The Devil's Symphony
by afickleflakes
Summary: Kanda, First Violin. Allen, Second Violin. Lavi, Cello. Lenalee, Viola. When the Devil's Symphony plays, the Akuma are drawn to them. Parallel to the original anime/manga, with a twist. AU AllenxLenalee
1. Prologue Past, Present, Future

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: Look, if I owned D. Gray -Man, we'd be seeing all this crap down here in the anime itself. Especially the violin bits.

Prologue.

* * *

His heart beats faster, races, accelerates, adrenaline rushing through his system.

_Light filtered out from a large window, lighting his face as he stood in the shower of rain. _

_He'd been walking around in the cold darkness for so long, that this ray of light blinded him._

_Being out at night was something dangerous to do at the end of fall, just when winter was approaching, especially since there was the evident risk of frostbite. _

_The boy pretty much figured he'd already contracted it._

_The ice-cold needle-like feel that the rain pounding on his back disappeared, replaced by the numb feeling of nothingness. _

_A figure stared out of the window, cup of hot, steaming coffee held loosely in his hands._

His breathing is laboured, and glimmering gemstones of perspiration bead on his forehead, where creases line pale skin.

Ugh. It's this dream _**again. **_When will it ever be different?

_He staggered up the sidewalk, arms tightly curled around the ivory-white instrument in a protective embrace. Blood continued to run its way down his cheek and neck, soaking into the wooden instrument, giving it a bronze-red tint._

_His left arm was burnt, left eye blinded, as he reached out to press the doorbell adjacent to the gold-rimmed teak door. His arm was already blood red with savage burns that were raw without treatment, and it trembled as more red liquid trickled down the short length of it, the forearm moving upwards to push the button. The stench of iron was lost in the rain._

He remembers the distinct smell of blood. He remembers the texture of the violin he held that had been soaked in water, tainted in blood. _**His blood**__._

_His right eye was dull, blank, and the door opened moments after the sound of the bell rang, sketchy against the sound of rain beating against the windows. A small figure is revealed from behind the white-painted door, a silhouette against the light that shines from within the hall behind her._

"_Nii-san, Nii-san!"_

_Her high, soprano voice barely reached him. But he noticed the worry in her tone._

_It's the sound of wind chimes; he was sure, the sound of wind chimes and bells._

_The voice of an angel._

Even in this hallucination, in this memory that is brought to the foregrounds of his mind every night, he can hear it loud and clear, echoing in his ears.

_A man came to stand behind her, and his determination dissolved into nothingness, as he staggered further forward, loss of blood and fatigue taking its toll. He collapsed, slumping forward, earning a startled cry from the girl._

A drastic change.

The nightmare turns into a dream here, he's certain; he's memorized its every scene, its every insignificant detail.

_The girl ran forward quickly to catch him in an embrace as the older man dived to make a grab for the delicate, fragile instrument that fell from his arms._

As much as he loves his rare white violin now that he can finally play it, how grateful he is that the man had caught his violin before it had managed to get damaged with the impact from the fall, he is more attentive towards the feeling of the girl's touch in the dream, more sensitive to the fact that she had actually been nicer than the other people he's seen before that encounter, to have caught him when he fell.

He remembers her warm, gentle hands as they caressed his face, stroking his cheek that night.

_He was dripping, water trickling down his face, streaming from his hair onto the floor in tiny beads as it blended with the blood and mud that had been slowly washing away when he'd been outside in the rain, searching for shelter. The tainted liquid continued to dribble down the length of his arms and upper torso as they advanced._

_He was fast losing consciousness, and he found it strange that the man carrying him didn't seem to care about the dirt and grime on his clothes, much less the water that seeped and was absorbed by his own clean, dry clothes._

_The boy was tired, but he looked around him, head dizzy from fatigue, eyelids heavy, as he attempted to recognize the surroundings, possibly identify the place._

_But his weary silver eyes searched in a blur mosaic of bright lights and the brownish highlights of wooden furniture that whizzed by, the only figure he could really identify as a person being the girl that ran ahead of them, her lithe form standing out of the blurred vision that irritated his eyes. From her height, he could roughly guess that she was only slightly older than he._

_He was being carried, and his vision was a blur, the only thing he saw being bright lights and the silhouette of the little girl that clutched his violin. He was brought into a room, and there were lots of children he could see, ranging from toddlers to young teenagers of about 13. They were staring at him, sending worried glances his way, he could see, as his vision cleared up, little by little._

_The man sets him down in a tub as their little convoy arrives at the bathroom and disappears, taking the violin the girl had been carrying with him. The girl receives a fast request from the older man that is barely audible to him, and he hears it as "Clean him up and put him to bed. I'll clean up the violin."_

One of the rather embarrassing moments in his life, yes, but also one of the sweetest.

_Her hands were gentle on his skin, comforting, warm and soothing at touch. The left arm still seared, burned, and he knew how deep they went; the skin would never heal completely, and the scars would hurt for as long as he lived. The tub of warm water shattered his nerves, and he couldn't help but cry out as she tried as gently as she could to wash the blood and infectious bacteria away with a sponge. _

He flinches in his sleep, knowing for sure that the next scene will renew the jabs of pain he feels tearing at the seams of his loosely sewn heart since the first time he's had this dream.

_She dabbed at his eye, and it flicked open like a switch, and a blood red pupil stared her down. He felt he eye's undisputed individual will, felt the girl cringe away from the piercing stare it gave her. He tried his best, willed it closed, and his trembling hands were torn away from their frozen positions at his sides to take away the pain the stare gave the girl._

He first saw her face then, her angelic face, the violet orbs that were her eyes, those glittering amethyst gemstones that betrayed every feeling in her mind. He saw the beautiful features of her youthful face, the ebony bangs that fell on her forehead and long tresses that trickled down from her head, over her shoulders, spilling onto her back.

"_I-I'm sorry…" he squeaked out in a weak voice, a voice gentle and careful, traumatized at the same time. _

_She was quickly out of her stupor, shaking her head, her eyes nervous, guard still up as she replied shakily in her high-octave voice, "It's o-okay..."_

He remembers her fearful voice, and it pains him, a gasp escapes his pale pink lips, eyes still shut tight.

_He'd been put to bed, but was too anxious to sleep. Her pained expression haunted him. But then, he heard voices in the hallway; voices of the girl and, as he'd recently learned, her brother. _

_He tip-toed to the door, eavesdropping on the people speaking in hushed voices._

"_It's a wonderful instrument. It's got over 500 years of time put into it. And the sound! Even though it was in the rain for such a long time, the sound seems unaffected! I can't imagine who could have possibly given this child such a brilliant instrument!"_

"_Nii-san, do we have to give it to the police station?"_

_There was a short period of silence again before the conversation continued; the boy guessed a head gesture from the older brother. He was right. But there was more to be said._

"_It came with that child, so we can't do anything with it, since it should belong to him. We'll ask him in the morning."_

"_Oh."_

_He could hear the smile in her voice._

_Did this girl like violins?_

"_I'd like to try this violin out; it's too big for you. Though you're the better musician, Lenalee."_

_Some quiet, muted laughter was heard. They were probably trying not to wake the other children here._

Her name… For the first time he can hear her name. Or is it just a delusion? Some cruel trick his mind is playing on him? But that can't be. Where in his past would this name have come from to have been formulated in the dream?

"_We'll give it some time to dry up completely. I'd say that'd be tomorrow morning, at the rate this thing is drying up. It's extraordinary!"_

_Giggles._

"_Okay, Nii-san. Let's play Canon in C Major tomorrow morning. It's my favourite!"_

An important aspect in the dream of the memory he relives every night, he notes. With that information, he'd b e all that much closer to finding the girl Lenalee.

_No replies were heard and the shutting of doors as their locks clicked into place filled the silence that had quickly taken its place in the boy's sensitive ears._

He grits his teeth. He really can't escape this nightmare. There's the turn for the worst here, the part where he realizes that his foster father's death hadn't been just a dream.

_He blinked. He couldn't remember where he was._

_There was sunlight filtering in through a window._

_And he'd had the weirdest of dreams._

_Mana dying… And that angel…_

_It was brighter then, and now he could look around the room that he was in._

_Dark-wood tables and a writing desk, a small armchair, a large wooden wardrobe decorated the room. A dark red carpet that was strewn under it all, to match with the satin curtains that hung beside the large glass window._

_This wasn't his room!_

_Memories flashed in his head._

_It hadn't been a dream!_

_Mana _was _dead!_

_Mana was dead…_

_He was numb now._

_Tears spilt over the dams in his eyes (wetting the bandage that was wrapped around his left eye socket), and his hands fell from where they had been attempting to wrench his hair out of his head._

"_M-Mana…"_

_He snuffled, sobbed, the tears running down the length of his face steadily now, some even sneaking out from under the red-tinted white bandages._

_He was the orphan he had been before the circus now…_

His breathing slows, and he's calmer now, as the dream continues on. He knows the best part-besides the girl catching him- is coming. He smiles in his sleep.

_Music echoed in the silence of morning, and the chirping of birds outside stilled._

_Violin._

_A _violin_._

_Another softer sound made its way to his ears, a more subtle, fluid sound._

_There was a soft gasp of awe, and he guessed it to be the older man._

_It was a beautiful sound, and the music swelled in his chest, a warm feeling engulfing him._

The sound is still perfectly comprehensive despite the years it has been since the first time he'd had this dream, and he is pleased. He doesn't want this dream to end.

But this is where things took a weird turn and landed him where he is now. He frowns.

_The peace that had accrued from the long tranquil notes played on the two violins shattered with loud banging on the doors._

_The boy's right eye flew open and he gasped._

_The music stopped as footsteps thudded loudly on the wooden panelled floor sounding further and further away as time passed._

_He heard softer set of footsteps approaching his own room._

_The door opened a fraction, and the girl who had cleaned him up appears, padding over to his bed._

_She hops into the bed with him, and he is startled._

_She is surprised to see him awake, but is witty, and conveys her message swiftly._

"_Shh!"_

_The boy looks at her curiously, confused and bewildered speechless. His eyes ask the question for him._

'_What's going on?'_

_The girl answers, understanding the question posed in his stormy grey eyes._

"_It might be social services. Yesterday, when we brought you in, someone might have seen you. So we need to hide you before you tell us what your decision is from here on out."_

_The boy nodded._

_He turned to the door, and he and the girl waited patiently under the blanket._

_Voices were heard around the corner, but the boy couldn't make out the conversation between the new guest and the girl's older brother._

_As the footsteps paused briefly, he heard a very distressed voice: "Please, what are you looking for?"_

_Then the footsteps continued loudly as the new visitor stormed down the hallway, approaching his room, little by little._

_He could roughly hear the booming voice of the man as he approached._

_He began to tremble, afraid of what was to come._

"_This is his room, right?" the voice demanded, and the younger of the two men replied shakily, "Yes, but…"_

_The girl gasped, realising what would happen next and pulled the boy under the covers._

_He never got to finish his sentence. _

He lets a groan escape him, and is whacked harshly, the same noisy voice from back then telling him to shut up because 'some people want to sleep'.

But this did not pull him out of the dream as it usually did, surprisingly.

_The boy sat petrified with horror as a red haired man slammed the door against the wall noisily, hearing the younger man behind him jumping at the sound._

_It was from his first impression did he decide to label this man 'brute'._

_The man was intimidating and held the mannerisms of an alcoholic, which the boy was smart enough to tell, considering the obvious stench of the foul-smelling chemical that exuded from the man._

_And as he stalked towards the bed, the small boy had to contain the urge to clamber down from his bed and hide under it._

_The man made an annoyed noise, and seemed to read his mind.  
He lifted the bed up effortlessly despite its size and weight with two people on it, much to the small boy's bewilderment._

_He watched as the girl struggled to stay on the bed, and grabbed her arm, pulling her further to the middle of the bed, and was thrown out of the bed himself._

_The red-haired 'brute' made a disgusted noise at the sight of him on the floor clutching his side, and the boy thought he heard something about him being muttered under his breath. Something like, "His hair is silver too."_

_This shocked the boy pretty much, and his painfully throbbing side had lost his attention at that point._

_How could he have not noticed the light silver bangs that ran along the length of his forehead? They were utterly conspicuous!_

_The boy pondered this fact, and before he actually realized it, he was being picked up by his collar, choking._

_He was too busy trying to breathe to hear it when the younger of the two adults in the room protested against the brute's actions._

_The girl clambered out from under the bed, unable to watch from the sidelines any longer, and began to scream something he could not make out._

He's surprised. The dreams didn't usually escalate to this scene.

_The protests continued, but this time, the boy actually heard what the man said._

"_What are you doing, Cross?! You may be one of the elite trusted by the Council of Elders, but you do not have the right to take this boy away! He only arrived here last night, and he is not a student of this institution!"_

_The red-haired man grunted at this statement and moved to the doorway._

_But the girl's next words stopped him in his tracks._

"_How could you?! How could you tear a boy from his bed like that when he's injured and scared?! HOW COULD YOU, CROSS-SAN?!"_

_This time, the boy was released, and landed on the floor with a light thud; he hadn't been hanging too high from the ground for it to be dangerous._

"_Don't argue with me little girl. This boy is the holder of the fabled white violin, which I have been tasked to find, and its owner to train."_

_He turned to the girl's older brother._

"_Komui, teach your sister. Let her learn her place."_

_He turned away._

"_This world isn't as kind a place as you think it is."_

_The one named Komui seemed to back down, shrinking away as the boy was picked up once more and hauled away._

"_Now, where's the bloody instrument, Komui?"_

He is amused again, even in his slumber, at the irony of this question.

_A mutter that was barely audible escaped the bespectacled man's lips._

_The boy could hear the girl crying behind him in the room.  
But fear shut his eyes tight and he couldn't bear to look at her._

_The brute then marched into a room, liberating the boy from his hold for a moment at the door as he entered the room quietly, much to his surprise. He emerged from the room just as quietly, shutting the door behind him just as reticently, two violin cases in his hands._

_The boy stared at him, silver eye wide; the other eye was covered in bandages. The man grunted._

_He tossed the smaller of the two violin cases to the boy._

"_What are you looking at?" he barked, and the silver haired boy shuddered, his eye closing instantly._

_The brute lit a cigarette, and Komui's voice came again, protesting and intolerant, telling the red-haired brute not to smoke inside the dorms of the children._

_And before he knew it, the boy had been dragged out of the building, again by the collar, and then, they were gone._

The train jerks to a stop and two large silver eyes fly open as the doors unbolt automatically and an icy autumn wind rushes into the train from outside. He's thankful for the coat he has. That idiotic master of his hadn't bothered to get him one. What kind of idiot wastes money and accumulates debts from non-essentials like beer instead of the fundamental stuff like _clothes?! _

He runs a hand through his unkempt white hair, aggravated. He's usually paying off those debts afterwards after all. He sighs, hoping that the train ride will go by quickly and they can get off at their next destination.

As if he'd read his mind, Cross Marian pulls him to his feet, muttering "wish granted."

A violin case is thrust into his arms and he is kicked outside harshly, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

He lands on his back, just as his 'assailant' had intended, shielding the violin from the hard impact that awaited him.

He groans as he gets up slowly, and, with his free hand, rubs the back of his head, which has also, unfortunately, come painfully in contact with the cement floor of the train platform.

A map and a small suitcase are then thrown into his face, and a sickening thud follows.

"Jeez…"

Allen rubs his nose as he picks up the map, the suitcase and the violin case, getting to his feet.

But just as he stops rubbing his nose, yet another object is hurled at him. A compass is flung at him, smacking with full force into his face.

And, within a split second, as the train doors close, he sees his master smiling wickedly at him, his one eye that isn't hidden by the mask covering the right side of his face minimized to a single line that curves upwards in the middle.  
People stare at his master, and those who are awake usher children out of the passenger car and into the ones on either side of it.

The train leaves the station as the snow-haired boy gets up, dusting himself off, his violin case and suitcase on either side of him. The map is in his coat pocket.

And finally, once it is out of sight, he sighs, the blank expression on his face dissolves into a half-scowl-half-sigh expression.

He'll have to find this place himself.

He glances at the station clock.

It's getting late. And now he has to find a place to stay the night.  
Frustrated, he sighs.

But then a voice calls him.

"Are you alright?"

He looks up to see the heart-shaped face of a girl. She's smiling.

_'She doesn't look like a local...'_

"Er, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

Violet eyes, light porcelain skin, and ebony bangs.

'_Like…'_

He picks up his violin case, the sling going over his shoulder. He takes a moment to shut his eyes, the memory of the girl known as 'Lenalee' in his dream flitting back to the foregrounds of his mind.

There's a slight dark blush creeping across the girl's cheeks as well, he notes.

'_That sure confirms it. Usually the locals have adapted to the cold weather in their countries or regions. If her face is still showing some form of a dark shade of pink, that must mean she's not accustomed to the temperature. Besides..'_

He looks her up and down, scanning her features as she turns to face away from him walking away.

_'…she looks Asian.'_

Then he gets an idea, starting to move towards the girl.  
He calls after her.

"Hey, wait! Do you know how I can get to the Latitude Music Faculty?"

* * *

A/N: Okay. I actually wrote this some time ago. I have about eight chapters ready, but I've got a writer's block at current, so after chapter eight, there won't be fast updates, maybe none at all. I'll give it my best shot. So, review and leave some nice criticism, if you will? Thanks.


	2. Familiar Stranger

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own D. Gray -Man. Not genius enough.

Chapter 1: Familiar Stranger

WARNING: A bit Lenalee OOC. I couldn't get her personality right somehow.

* * *

She turned around, a look of confusion plaguing her features as Allen came to a stop in front of her.

"What?"

"The Latitude Music Faculty. Do you know where it is?"

He could see the thorough scrutiny she conducted on him. Her gaze landed on the black prism slung over his back, his violin case. Her gaze moved up to his face immediately. She'd noticed his sentience of her inspection.

Her violet orbs glittered and Allen was dazzled briefly.

A cold wind rushed between them and Allen's eyes stung at the sudden dry coldness.

But the girl didn't even falter at the icy evening wind.

"Are you a violinist?"

He blinked. She was stating the obvious. Then again, not all triangular cases were violin cases… Were they?

"Yes, I am."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"We… Um, they're not expecting any visitors any time soon. What's your name?"

His eyes goggled slightly in confusion. But before he could speak, the features of the ebony haired girl had softened and she spoke softly.

"Goodness, I'm being rude. I should introduce myself first."

Allen raised an eyebrow at the girl's sudden change of disposition but said nothing, signalling her to continue. She understood his mannerism and cleared her throat politely.

"I'm Lenalee Lee. It's nice to meet you. Please call me Lenalee."

Time stopped short, and Allen looked on at the girl who had just told him her name.

'_It can't be…_'

Her dazzling smile showed itself again and she held out a gloved hand.

Everything around him roared to life once more.

"Ah, I'm Allen Walker. It's nice to meet you too."

She laughed a little. The sound of wind chimes.

He shook her hand. It was warm, comforting, even though there was a layer of thick fabric between her skin and his.

Allen was surprised. It was just a hand. A _gloved _hand against his own gloved hand.

She beamed at him radiantly and Allen felt heat rushing to his face.

He smiled, catching the mood. He hadn't known someone that contagious could exist.

"Well, I could show you the way there, but there is a little piece of information you should probably know."

She snickered.

"Because if you're just going there to register, you might encounter some trouble."

He looked at her questioningly.

"They don't allow people in just like that. You need to go through a scan and an audition and _everything_," she said, emphasising heavily on the last word.

She tapped a thin, pale finger against her chin.

"Let's see…"

Allen glanced around him, fidgeting quietly as he waited, trying not to make his anxiousness so obvious.

Then he had an idea. Maybe she was taking longer to think of the registration system because…

"Hey, Lee-san, maybe we could have this conversation elsewhere? This station is pretty crowded, and I'm getting the idea that maybe you might not want people to overhear this piece of information you're about to give me?"

She smiled at him brightly.

"You catch on quickly. But…"

But then a teasingly disgusted look crossed her features, and she pursed her lips, her arms unfolding themselves as her hands rested lightly on her waist.

He looked at her, awed again by the quickly changing moods of this person.

"Who're you calling Lee-san?"

"Eh?"

"My brother is the one you should address as Lee-san. I'm no fan of formalities and I already asked you to call me Lenalee."

She smiled again.

"Besides, I bet you don't want me to call you Walker-san either, right?"

"You're right. I'd prefer to be called by my name."

A grin revealed a perfect set of white teeth.

"Well then, Allen-kun, let's head somewhere else for this story."

The fifteen-year-old nodded, and an amused smile spread across his face, reaching his eyes.

"Yup. It's cold out here. And the temperature will probably drop drastically later with the sunset. So, where to, Lenalee?"

She laughed at his joking demeanour, but played along, sticking her hands in the pockets of her thick jacket. It looked warmer than his.

"Are you a fan of coffee, Allen? There's a nice antique coffee house near the music faculty. It's just a short walk away from there, along the river that runs on this side of town. There's a motel near there too, so you can spend the night near the faculty and apply there tomorrow morning. It'll be starting in about two weeks."

Allen blinked.

'_Oh crap. There's still that problem…_'

But the snow-haired boy pushed the thought to the back of his mind and smiled.

"Sure. I don't mind caffeine at all, just as long as there's no alcohol. And I don't think I'll be going to the faculty today. It's getting dark. And once again, no alcohol, please."

She raised an eyebrow in query.

"I guess I just don't really fancy alcohol."

He smiled sheepishly.

"Besides, I'm not old enough."

She laughed with the ringing sound of wind chimes again.

"Neither am I!"

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen!"

She grinned at him playfully.

"You?"

He laughed a little, doing a gentlemanly bow.

"I'm fifteen, miss."

"What did I say about the formalities? Did they go in through one ear, and out the other?"

She slapped him playfully on the left arm. He ignored the minor pain that shot up it as a result.

"I feel as if I've known you for a long time, Allen," Lenalee stated casually, staring him in the eyes.

He grinned this time, and she returned the gesture with a giggle which was followed a charming smile of her own.

"Well, let's go then."

-

The cup of mocha fruppacino felt good in his hands. It was warm, but gave off this thick steam that settled lightly around him like a passing mist, carrying the scent of coffee beans and chocolate. The warmth felt good and the boy received it graciously.

He sipped the hot chocolatey liquid lightly, welcoming the continuous warmth that spread through him as he drank.

Lenalee sat across from him and was sipping her cup of black coffee similarly, holding it with her gloved hands, warming them. Her amethyst eyes were calm and tranquil.

He threw a glance her way, noticing for the first time what she was wearing.

Her hair was down for the most part, with two thin pigtails at the sides of her head.

She wore a black and white striped turtleneck and a long khaki overcoat that had black cuffs and, as he'd noticed earlier, her hands were gloved.

He couldn't see what kind of bottom she was wearing, but he was pretty sure she was wearing boots up to her knees.

She was quite pretty too…

He took another sip of coffee, letting the steam warm his face, making it look as if he was flustered from its heat and took his time calming himself down before he spoke again.

"So," he said, setting the mug down on the table, "tell me this important piece of information you have for me."

"Well," she answered, setting down her mug as well, rubbing her gloved hands together before turning to look up at him again with her large wondrous violet orbs, "there's a security system. This system has various stages to it."

Allen nodded, listening intently.

"Well, first is your basic security check. They'll scan you for any form of dangerous device and whatnot. I take it that you'll probably pass that test easily."

She raised an eyebrow, eyeing the boy suspiciously.

"Unless you have a dangerous item?"

Allen answered with a head gesture once more, shaking his head in a very apparent 'no'.

" I've only the clothes on my back, this suitcase, a map and compass, and my violin."

Lenalee nodded and continued, smiling in approval.

"The second part is, if you want to register, that is, that you'll need either a recommendation from an honoured member or one of the mentors there."

The snow haired boy blinked several times, as if he was trying to remember something.

And he did recall.

"I believe my Master sent in an application letter sometime ago. Or so he told me."

"Hmn."

He watched as she propped herself up on her elbow, staring straight into his blue-tinted stone grey eyes.

"Well, whoever your master is, I hope he's someone famous," she replied. However, she did not give him time to reply as she quickly continued on to explain the next subtopic of the conversation without hesitation.

Allen wondered absentmindedly why.

"Do you have any other form of proof?"

Allen raised an eyebrow.

"Proof of your excellence as a musician."

"Er, can't I just play for them then and there?"

The ebony-haired girl shook her head.

"I told you, you need recommendation from a respected member or well-renowned musician."

She sipped at her coffee calmly.

"Besides, they used to listen to those people who wanted to join, but I think some of the top brass had enough of those 'wannabes' as he called them. That was around five to six years ago."

Allen blinked.

"Ah, I mean, I saw him that day, when they threw the last ever person who attempted to join with that method. I think I was ten."

"Oh. Alright then, I really need a favour."

The girl did not raise her lips away from the mouth of the cup of still-steaming coffee; she simply looked up at him with large, questioning eyes.

"Do you know any of the honoured members there?"

She did not answer him. Instead she continued sipping her coffee calmly. What a composed person.

She lifted her lips away from the mug.

Without looking at him, gaze still focused at the contents in her mug, she said quietly, "I can guess what you're getting at."

"Oh?"

She looked him straight in the eye again, smiling this time, but her stare was deadly, intense.

"I won't help you."

Allen looked at her in disbelief.

What a fierce stare, too. It was almost _mean _of her.

(Lenalee thought to herself, '_I'm spending too much time around Lavi…"_)

"Just kidding!"

She burst out in a fit of giggles and Allen continued to stare in amazement at her. What a carefree person.

And a convincing actor at the same time, too.

"Oh, come on. I'm not that terrible."

She smiled at him gently.

"I'd like to help. But I can't."

She shook her head, a forlorn smile on her face.

"I just know how the system works, since I've seen it so many times."

Allen pondered this momentarily and inquired politely.

"How could you have seen it if you've never been in there before?"

He watched as she calmly sipped her coffee once more.

"They do these checks outside of the place itself, for safety purposes," she paused, lifting the mouth of the mug to her lips, "After all; they can't risk someone assassinating a student."

Allen's eyes widened at her words.

"People attempt to _assassinate _the students?!"

"Well, what did you expect? The place is filled with world class musicians who are practically bulldozing the entirety of the world's classical music industry full-speed-ahead. They're taking the world by storm."

The boy went silent, contemplating the girl's words. His eyes wandered down to the chocolate coloured fruppacino that sat on the table, waiting to be drunk.

"Um, who's going to pay?"

She was trying to change the subject.

He sighed so softly that it was almost inaudible to he himself.

He looked up warily and watched as her breath came out in cloudy wisps of steam.

"I will. After all, the ladies shouldn't pay for something like a coffee when there's a guy accompanying them."

He smiled at her and she giggled.

He raised the mug to his own lips and drank. It was a pretty favourable temperature in the shop; not too hot, not too cold.

"Well, then, please excuse me."

She smiled at him sincerely in reply.

He carefully set the mug of mocha fruppacino down on the marble tabletop and got up from where he sat, hoisting his violin over his shoulder.

As soon as he had reached the cashier, though, and asked for the bill for the purchases made by the customers at table 8, a stubby finger instantly shot up to point rudely at him right in the face.

"YOU!"

Allen raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me..?"

He did not answer the snow-haired boy's question.

Instead, the man punched furiously on the cash register and the little drawer slid out.

Allen was bewildered. Was there some sort of curfew to pay for the purchases made and he was late to pay for his meal or something?

"Um, sir, what're you…"

The corpulent man smashed a _very_ long bill down on the counter.

'_Oh no._'

"You are this boy, right?"

Allen watched in utter torment as the shopkeeper pulled out another piece of paper.

And this was the five hundred and sixty-ninth time he'd faced this kind of situation, seen the familiar hand drawing.

He slapped his hand to his forehead. He couldn't possibly repay the shopkeeper the debt _now._

Especially since Lenalee was waiting. It was so embarrassing.

'_A ludicrous imbecile of a master I have. I doubt he's anyone who's respected by the people at the music faculty…'_

Allen sighed heavily.

"I'm terribly sorry for my master's behaviour, sir…"

Much to his utter surprise, the stout man smiled at him, completely snapped out of his rage.

This town was just full of peculiar people.

Not that he was complaining.

"I'll forgive you. At least you bothered to apologize, even on your master's behalf. It's not your fault. But, he _did _address the payment to you, and I really need that money for the shop. We're running short on good supplies. I can't buy the better quality ingredients if I don't have enough money. They tend to be more expensive."

He just stared at the man. So the peculiar people here were friendlier than the other places he'd been forced to work off his Master's debts before, too…

"Alright then sir, what would you like me to do to compensate for the money he owes you? Or would you like me to pay you back in cash?"

The man massaged his temples.

"No, that would take too long. Instead, I would like you to attract customers to the shop while I run out and get some more supplies."

Allen began to protest, but the rotund shopkeeper stopped him short before he could even start.

He gestured to the bill that lay on the table.

"You see, it isn't all that much. The thing is, he bought a lot of the cheaper coffee sets. So, it'd satisfy me enough to pay for both your meal with the lady there and your master's debt simply by attracting some customers here."

He nodded at the black violin case slung over Allen's back loosely.

"You're a violinist right?"

The white-haired boy was suddenly in a tight spot.

"I'm not allowed to use this violin in public…"

"Oh? How odd. But don't worry. Run down to the shop opposite this one. The one called_ the Devil's Symphony._ You'll get to rent the violin free. Just remember to say that I, Mr Bentley, sent you over. I'll give you as long as you like to pick out a violin."

The rotund man smiled at him.

"You're not afraid I'm going to run off without paying?"

"You don't look the type to suddenly run out on a guy. Or a debt, in this case. And besides," he nodded in Lenalee's direction, "that girl will be waiting."

Allen looked curiously at him, seeming not to notice his recent statement.

"Okay…Why so long just to borrow a violin though? I don't think any of the violins there aren't tuned either…"

The man simply chuckled to himself.

"You'll see."

Allen did not question further.

"A-Alright… Let me leave my violin with my friend. Then I'll head over to that shop you mentioned."

As Allen scooted over to the table he and Lenalee had been having coffee at moments before, his mind pondered the atypical friendliness of the people in that country.

"Lenalee, Lenalee! Can you help me take care of my violin for about ten to fifteen minutes? I have to… er… run an errand…"

She acted clueless, but a sense of knowledge over the whole situation lingered in her tone.

"Sure. Be back soon. I'll just sit tight and wait for you."

Allen thanked her, and bounded off in the direction of the entrance.

Once outside, he hastened across the street towards the quiet looking violin shop opposite.

And as he walked, he noticed the eerie silence of the derelict alley-like street.

But it was pretty bright, in spite of the time and season, and the grey cobblestones that paved the sidewalk and the gravel that covered the road pretty much gleamed in the dim sunlight; the leaves had been raked and put in piles at the side of the roads and sidewalks. The small rocks had been laid out on the road as a precaution, for tar was slippery in the rainy season. They made a scrunching noise under his feet as he moved and he felt a bit more comforted by the fact that there was some form of noise besides his lonely footsteps.

He arrived at the glass doors of the antique violin shop, and stepped gingerly inside. There was a rush of icy wind as he entered, colder than the temperature of the outside air.

Allen considered this. It was probably because the rain clouds had shifted away to let some rays of warm sunlight comfort his frostbitten senses when he had been outside.

The scent of polished wood and horsehair filled his lungs as he looked around, delving deeper into the shop.

It was the aroma of classical music.

Said instruments lined the walls, hung splendidly in neat, labelled rows that were organised with four of each type of instrument in a row.

At the centre of the shop stood a large grand piano on a risen platform.

"Um, hello? The coffee shop owner asked me to borrow a violin from here…"

His voice rang through the empty silence at a volume magnified by the barrenness of the room.

No one answered and Allen wandered over to the seat in front of the large grand piano, running his fingers over the ivory white keys, the smooth feel of each individual key setting off a tingling sensation in his fingers.

They were eager to play.

"Yes, how may I help you, young man?"

Allen had only given the man a fleeting look, before, quick as a flash, he was on his feet.

"Um, Mr Bentley from the café sent me over, the one on the opposite side of the street?"

"Ah yes. Whatever for, young lad?"

Allen tensed up, nervous that the balding man might reject his request for its reason.

But he refused to lie.

"Well, you see, I went down to Mr Bentley's shop for some coffee with a friend; to talk some things over…"

Allen drifted off, his mind wandering easily to Lenalee, the girl he'd just met. Her beautiful, enchanting violet eyes and that entrancing smile…

The old man laughed, pulling Allen out of his reverie.

"Is she your girlfriend, or your 'friend'?"

Allen turned bright red.

"W-What? N-No! I just met her today and asked for a favour to…" he trailed off a second time, not thinking about the fact that he hadn't mentioned Lenalee to the old man.

Allen shut his eyes, trying to concentrate.

This was not time to be thinking or talking about things like that!

Nor was it time to go into details about it with this old man.

"I'm just an old man. I shouldn't pry."

The fifteen-year-old looked up to find the old man smiling.

"Well then, what did you come here for then, lad?"

"I came to borrow a violin."

The old man's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What…?"

Allen scratched the back of his neck tensely.

"My master owes Mr Bentley a lot of money… And apparently, he has this terrible habit of passing those debts on to me. Since I'm a violinist, Mr Bentley asked me if I could attract customers to his shop with some music. But I can't use my violin in public; master's orders."

Allen's gaze dropped to the floor.

It was so shameful to have a master like that. Practically everything his master did was at his expense. Especially his income.

A loud laugh escaped the old man.

"I know someone who's exactly like that! Except, he doesn't have an apprentice; he leaves his debts for his friends and the organisation he works for instead, as far as I know."

Allen blinked in surprise.

But then the old man's tone changed.

Again with the strange changes in mood of the townsfolk.

"I'll lend you a violin," he said, a warning in his tone, "but you have to prove to me that you know how to play."

He smiled warmly. And Allen just stared.

"You will play first violin for the first part of _the Devil's Trill_ by Guiseppe Tartini, with me on second violin?"

"W-What…?"

'_That's a really hard piece! And I haven't seen the score enough times to remember the fingering!"_

The old man retreated into the shadows, returning with two violin cases.

He handed one to Allen.

"This one is a full size. It should fit you."

Lifting the 300-year old violin out of its case, he smiled at the snow-haired boy who could only stare at him in shock.

He'd never expected something like that.

"Try the violin, lad. If it fits, and you pass my little test of course, you can borrow it."

* * *

A/N: Alright, that's all for this chapter. (: Sorry for the late update.


	3. Serenade My Soul, You Forgotten Memory

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: This kind of thing would never exist in -Man. So it's obvious -Man doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 2: Serenade My Soul, You Forgotten Memory.

A/N: My thanks to all those who reviewed~ You guys really made my day~!

* * *

Allen peered nervously at the old man, his eye moving back and forth between him and the case.

He unzipped the violin case on the counter before him carefully, still apprehensive of the situation.

"Uh… I don't know the fingerings… D-Do you have the score?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

He was replied with a laugh.

"I needed you to sight read. Why else would I choose a piece that hard?"

The old man smiled and moved to get the score.

Allen gulped and tried to reassemble his shattered focus as he flipped the cover over.

But the sight of the violin inside the blue fabric case instantly, completely grabbed his attention, astounding him, refusing to let him concentrate on his priorities.

The strings were contemporary, clean of any type of dust particles and there was no trace of wear despite its obvious age; such craftsmanship had pretty much died out before 20th Century.

The long strings were like those on his violin-made of catgut- and were perfectly sustained.

The violin was tuned well, he discovered as he plucked the strings lightly, and perfectly tightened; these traits were clearly obvious to his trained eyes and ears. They were spotless, common rosin dust absent, seeming to have been cleaned with a common wine cork.

The corpus of the violin was a rich russet colour polished until it was so shiny, and the varnish pure and untainted. The snow haired boy could see his own face in a reflection.

He marvelled at it, and the seconds that passed seemed like hours.

'_Snap out of it!'_

Allen mentally slapped himself, and was so focused on the beautiful instrument his hand almost subconsciously slapped his own face physically.

His mind was totally blank, and all he could do was stutter.

"I-It's beautiful…"

The old man simply smiled and nodded, his head bowed down, gaze fixed on his fingers which had tangled themselves together.

"It makes a beautiful sound too. My pride and joy… The old guys in the family made it."

He set the stand down, positioning the scores on it so that the boy didn't have to move them then looked up at Allen with old soggy eyes.

"Well, shall we, lad?"

Allen nodded solemnly, a determined expression on his face.

-

It had only been about two minutes since Allen had left.

Ebony bangs twirled round the thin pale fingers of the trained musician.

Lenalee sighed.

Lying wasn't one of the things she did often.

But it was just a small white lie. Couldn't possibly hurt anyone, could it?

She glanced at the violin case that lay unmoved on the table, a few inches away from her empty green mug.

She would tell Allen. Eventually.

She looked up meaningfully, staring at the overcast sky that loomed overhead as she leaned lightly on her right palm, elbow on the tabletop.

The glass separating her from the outside world was crystal clear, and she could see that it was drizzling ever so slightly outside. Sunlight caught in the little water droplets and Lenalee could just imagine the glistening, glimmering crystals that fell from the sky. They would be even more beautiful when winter came.

She sighed, turning her gaze away from the grey mass of stratocumulus opacus clouds; clouds so thick, not a single inch of blue sky could be seen from where she was.

"Lena-chan…"

Lenalee was jolted out of her musings, jumping at the given nickname as a warm breath tickled her ear, and she spun around in shock.

"Ohmygosh…! You scared me!"

The red head simply grinned at her, cramming his gloved hands into his pockets. His emerald eye gleamed with amusement.

"I'd meant to."

The ebony haired girl couldn't help but smile at him, and they shared the amusement of her fright.

She couldn't even try to be angry.

This was something she'd gotten used to after two years spent in the rabbit's company.

It always appeared to be that his infectious personality had somehow allowed the transmission of amusement between them, despite the odds.

He smiled at her, unfolding his arms from behind his head, leaning over to peep into her empty mug.

"Black coffee?"

She nodded.

"Mmhmn."

He chuckled lightly as Lenalee's violet eyes searched his face for an explanation.

"I was running an errand for Panda Ji-ji and saw you staring at nothing when you should be at home practicing for the upcoming examinations."

She sighed and was about to protest but he held a finger to her lips and grinned.

"Yes, I do know you went to see Yuu-chan off, but that was an hour ago, Lena-chan. And it's almost dark. Your brother will be worried if you don't get home for dinner. You know how he is."

Lenalee looked away stubbornly with a huff.

Her companion laughed.

"I'm just warning you, Lena-chan."

Lenalee simply sighed, proceeding to continue watching the sky and the snowflakes' descent.

The redhead smiled.

"I'm waiting for someone to get back, Lavi."

"Mmn."

His gaze wandered past her, catching sight of the dark-coloured prism case on the table and he sauntered over to the seat Allen had been sitting in across from Lenalee and sat down.

"What's this?"

Lenalee came to face him now, and looked for some form of examination he would commence on this foreign object; she was ready to protect her new friend's property if the need arose.

But there was no inspection as the boy stared her straight in the face with his one emerald green eye, still waiting tentatively for an answer.

It seemed he knew it wasn't hers.

Their terse moment of awkward staring vanished as quickly as it had come when Mr Bentley's potbelly popped into view.

"Lenalee-san, Lavi-san."

Both teenagers blinked several times before turning to look at the stout middle-aged man.

"Yes, Mr Bentley?" the asked in unison.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm closing the shop."

"What?!"

Lenalee's protest was not a surprise to the redhead.

He knew she liked the shop very much and would sit in there for hours if she had free time and wasn't busy practicing the viola.

She was also one of those people who never wore a watch.

And it was for her benefit that he deliberately stole a quick glance at his own wrist watch.

"Well, this _is _the usual closing time."

He looked outside, his solitary emerald eye turning a slightly brighter green with the golden rays of the evening sun, muttering, "It's late."

Lenalee looked around the café and noticed the absence of customers. The balding man understood her actions.

"You and that young lad from earlier were the last ones I served. That's why there's no one else around."

The sixteen-year-old blinked once, a deep sigh following.

"I guess we'll move off then."

-

Music flowed elegantly through the air, filling his heart as the bow rose and fell in a calming flow.

Allen hummed quietly to himself in his head as the music continued.

The violin he had borrowed was producing some of the most wonderful sounds he'd ever heard.

The strings were smooth, and the white-haired teen easily slid the bow up and down, the horsehair rubbing on the catgut strings. It was easy to hold, yet fragile in his grip.

The boy opened his left eye a peek and caught a glimpse of the practised vibrato of the old man.

He had his eyes closed, a soft smile playing on his lips.

-

"Alright then Lena-chan. I'll catch ya later!"

Said girl waved at the redhead, smiling.

Her right hand was wrapped around the handle of Allen's violin case and she strolled away from the shop at a leisurely pace, moving to cross the deserted street, gravel crunching under her boots.

Mr Bentley had ushered them out of his café and told Lenalee to find Allen and tell him that he'd decided that the boy would start his violin playing shift the day after; he'd just put their payment on Allen's new tab there for now.

"You know what time to come."

And then, he'd left.

Lavi had thrown her a mischievous look when Mr Bentley had mentioned this 'Allen' to them, only to be glared at by his senior in music.

She didn't feel like taking that nonsense from him.

Besides, it was already late. Her brother would be expecting her home for dinner soon.

She'd just fetch Allen and his borrowed violin and send him over to the lodge near the faculty.

It was much too late for her to bring him there now.

A familiar tune came within her earshot and Lenalee perked up.

It was definitely a string instrument; that she was certain.

The sounds were higher than that of a viola.

And cellos were out of the picture.

More so, they were definitely not a double bass or folk string instruments.

_Violin._

She moved in the direction of the beautiful melody, the voices of singing violins growing easily recognizable to her sensitive ears.

-

The song was coming to an end; just another minute or two to go.

Allen slid the horsehair over the strings lightly and felt the same wave of adrenaline he'd been feeling since the start of the song wash over him, making his senses tingle.

He'd read the page of the score he was playing, memorised it.

This was strange for him.

Usually, when he was told to sight read and play spontaneously, his mind wouldn't allow him the benefit of memorising the piece.

It was strange, this sensation.

He couldn't comprehend.

He couldn't even feel the pain as he usually did when he pressed on the strings with his left fingers.

Why was this so different?

Was it the instrument?

The song?

The person he was playing with?

'_Or perhaps the people listening?'_

Eyelids lifted slowly at the voice that resounded in his head to reveal a pair of dazzling blue-grey eyes.

Those same eyes scanned the room, landing on a figure outside the shop.

It was just a silhouette; the shop was facing the west where the sun was setting.

The song ended then as Allen played the last note.

He lifted his chin lightly off the chinrest and straightened up, his left hand still holding the fingerboard of the violin as he lifted it off his shoulder.

Footsteps echoed around the empty room as the old man placed his hand on the shoulder of the white-haired teen, smiling joyfully.

"That's the best sound I've heard in years."

The boy grinned.

Allen started as the bell at the entrance of the shop chimed briefly.

The sound of someone crossing the room could be heard, but it was soft, almost too soft to be heard.

The snow-haired boy did not turn around.

There was a light thud; the sound of an object being gently put on a table.

There was a slow clapping noise that followed it, and Allen turned around to see the same ebony bangs and violet orbs he'd seen earlier.

"L-Lenalee?"

He hadn't seen her come in, though he'd certainly heard the sound of her snow-boots on the wood-panelled floors as she moved to hang up her coat and place his violin case on the table.

The girl only smiled.

"I only heard the last part of it, but it was beautiful, Allen."

He flushed a light pink as his name rolled off her tongue quaintly.

'_It's just the effect of the compliment,' _he told himself, '_don't go there.'_

She smiled and turned away from him.

"Good evening, Jigo-san," she said, addressing the elderly shopkeeper this time, bowing politely.

"Good evening, Lee-san."

Lenalee laughed; a soft velvety sound in place of the bell chimes.

"Jigo-san, I've told you to call me Lenalee."

Her thousand watt smile showed itself again.

Allen simply stared.

The said Mr Jigo sauntered over to the table of where-which sat his violin case.

Sliding the shoulder rest from its place, he smiled, and said, "Same to you, Lee-san. I've told you to call me Tikano several times."

He chuckled softly.

"The title 'Jigo-san' makes me feel old, Lena-chan."

Allen looked back at Lenalee, watching for her response as he made his way to the blue fabric violin case.

"Yes," she replied playfully, "Tikano…"

She grinned before adding, "…san."

The old man sighed, a smile still on his face as he finally slid his violin into place in the case.

At this, Allen saw something shift in Lenalee's eyes.

He decided to inquire.

"Lenalee, do you have any requests?"

A forced smile showed on her face, distinguished by the absence of the light in her eyes.

She nodded.

"I do."

Their gazes locked for an instant, and Allen saw the disappointment she held for having missed most of the performance.

Especially its idiosyncratic intensity.

He tore his gaze away from her face, staring down at the violin this time.

The wooden instrument he'd borrowed was already in the case, but he gently lifted it out again.

"Jigo-san, can we play another piece?"

The old man raised an eyebrow, looking a little bit angry.

Allen bit his lip. Maybe the townsfolk weren't so overly giving after all.

"I told you. Call me Ti-ka-no," he said, waving his finger at each syllable of his name.

Then he smiled.

"Sure."

He lifted his own violin out of its case gingerly and grinned.

Allen turned to look at Lenalee.

"So, what would you like us to play?"

The sixteen-year-old looked down, folding her arms and rubbed the upper part of the limb.

"I would like to request _Canon in D Major _by Johann Pachelbel, if you please?"

Allen shot Tikano a fleeting look.

The old man nodded at him.

At the gesticulation, Lenalee's mood instantly lifted, and Allen could see the happiness of her smile touch her wondrous amethyst orbs.

Allen positioned the violin on his left shoulder as Tikano pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, his chin already resting on the chinrest of the honey-coloured violin he was holding.

The fifteen-year-old had memorised the piece by heart, and playing it without the score was a piece of cake.

Allen waited, bow at the ready before the old man nodded, signalling the start of the piece.

His bow hovered above the strings lightly for the first couple of bars before his turn came, and the violin sang beautifully for them, the bow moving up and down, across the strings in a melody.

Lenalee's rested her right hand over her heart, her left hand wrapping around it lightly. Her eyes fluttered shut as the music flowed and resounded through her.

She really missed it…the beautiful sound of the violin.

-

"Thank you, Allen. That was beautiful."

He simply smiled at her, his smile further brightened by the golden light of the setting sun.

Lenalee turned to look at the vermillion-orange orb falling, dipping back behind the horizon, the darker upper portion of the visible sky already harbouring a young, silver crescent moon, highlighted slightly golden by the remaining rays of sunlight.

The surface of the river they were walking along shone like a thousand crystals, the glimmer of the evening sun reflecting off it.

"Charmed," she said to the autumn sunset, "that's the effect twilight has on me in winter. And what your music did to me," she turned to the white-haired teen, "was the same."

"Thank you. I'm most flattered."

He looked at her meaningfully as they continued down the riverside path.

There was silence- the snow had been swept away, off the path – and the white-haired teen's mind wandered.

The problem he'd pushed to the back of his mind till just then resurfaced, and Allen sighed.

Lenalee seemed to sense his unease, and looked at him, eyes curious.

The white-haired teen seemed to notice her conspicuous inquisitive glance, and scratched the back of his head with his free hand.

"I haven't exactly got any money for lodgings. How am I going to pay for my stay at this motel you're bringing me to?"

The sixteen-year-old girl blinked.

"I could lend you money," she offered.

Instantly, Allen's left hand shot up and flailed about.

"No, no! I can't do that!"

Lenalee raised an eyebrow, looking slightly irritated.

Friends were supposed to help each other out, regardless of whether money was included or not.

"Can I invite you to my place, then, to stay the night?"

He looked at her expression, contemplating as he struggled to make a decision.

His brain was telling him not to impose on her, but his conscience was telling him that, judging by the face she had just made, she'd be very upset if he didn't accept her request.

And he was a gentleman.

Gentlemen are supposed to please women in a polite manner, not upset them.

"Ehh? Are you sure your parents won't mind? After all, I just met you today and…"

Allen stopped short.

Lenalee's expression had darkened noticeably and her hand tightened around the handle of the violin case she was carrying.

"I don't have any parents. They were murdered when I was little, right before I _moved _to this town."

Her voice was monotonous, independent of emotion.

'_Uh oh.'_

Allen stiffened.

"L-Lenalee… I…"

She lifted her face up to look him in the eyes with fiery amethyst orbs that simply screamed "don't you _dare _pity me".

"But I'm sure my brother won't mind," she muttered darkly, a bitter smile plastered on her face.

"O-Oh, you have a brother?"

She smiled at this, the dark feeling about her vanishing.

"Yes, an older brother."

She chuckled softly.

"Though he does have quite a sister complex," she added quietly a smile gracing her features.

Allen laughed quietly to himself, readjusting the violin case slung on his shoulder.

Lenalee tapped a thin, pale finger against her chin.

The action went unnoticed by Allen, who was flexing the fingers of his left hand, entirely engrossed.

The ebony-haired girl did not notice his unusual movements either.

"Well, 'quite' would be very much of an understatement…" she muttered to herself, incomprehensible to Allen.

"Sorry? What did you say?"

"Oh! Um, nothing."

They walked in silence the rest of the way and Allen pondered silently what Lenalee might have said, the fingers of his right hand curled around the handle of his suitcase, his violin case still slung over his shoulder.

-

"Nii-san, I'm home."

Allen stepped into the warm space illuminated by bright white lights.

It was in a modern apartment building, situated near the river they had been walking along earlier. It was located even closer to the music faculty than the motel; right behind the faculty building, or so Allen had been told.

Everything was perfectly normal. The only thing he noticed that was out of place was the uncharacteristic burning smell that lingered in the air.

And the racket of clattering pots and pans.

"Welcome home, my sweet Lenalee!" an excited voice called, seeming to have come from the depths of the kitchen.

"I brought a guest, Komui-nii," Lenalee said politely, pulling off her shoes, signalling Allen to do the same. She put them neatly on a wooden rack that stood neatly to the side.

"Oh? Who is it? Any friend of my Lenalee is welcome!"

Allen slipped off his boots and looked at Lenalee awkwardly as she giggled.

"I told you," she whispered.

She beckoned him into their small living room.

"Make yourself at home," she said, beaming.

There was a small two-seater sofa positioned against the wall and Lenalee motioned for him to sit down before excusing herself to change into more comfortable clothing.

Allen's observant gaze wandered around the room, catching sight of a standing piano in the corner, on it a set of photo frames.

Though he did miss the small television and fireplace set at the front of the living room; his attention was quickly received by the photo frames on the piano top.

He got up slowly, hesitantly, leaving his two violin cases on the small rectangular coffee table, his suitcase on the floor beside the mahogany coffee table.

The white-haired teen sincerely hoped he wasn't intruding.

Then again, her exact words _had _been 'make yourself at home'…

He padded over to the instrument, the carpeted floors tickling his feet outside his socks.

The photos in the frames on top of the piano were slightly faded but he could make out the faces of the people in the pictures.

Allen found himself feeling a sudden wave of anxiety wash over him.

He felt dizzy.

It was her.

The '_Lenalee' _from his dreams_. _

So it really hadn't been a coincidence with the names, looks or the ages.

And there was more evidence of them being the same person; in the photographs.

One of the little Lenalees in the photographs was holding a violin.

This however was in an older picture and the girl was about seven years old.

In another picture, where the ebony-haired girl was slightly older, looking about ten, the age Allen had seen her in the dream, there was a viola in her arms and she was beaming happily, her raven coloured tresses reaching just above her waist.

He was a little surprised that Lenalee hadn't told him about her music history.

Heat rushed to his face.

She wasn't actually obliged to tell that to a stranger like _him_.

Allen heard footsteps-the sound of someone approaching-and hustled back to the sofa as quietly as he could.

Lenalee emerged, her hair up in two adorable pigtails. Well, in Allen's opinion anyway.

Her previous outfit had been replaced with a green turtleneck sweater and shorts, thick looking leggings reaching up to her thighs.

She came to sit beside him on the couch as they waited for her brother.

A few moments afterwards, a man looking to be of about 20 years of age came prancing into the hallway, spatula in hand.

But the strangest thing the white-haired boy noticed about him was that the man was wearing a _frilly_ _pink_ apron.

Lenalee stood up as the man approached them. Allen followed suit.

"Nii-san, this is Allen Walker. Allen, meet my brother Komui," she said, smiling broadly.

"Hello! I'm Komui Lee, Lenalee's darling brother! It's nice to meet you," he exclaimed cheerfully, extending a hand.

The boy paused, and the world around him slowed to a stop once more. Another familiar person.

That name.

That's what his master had called the man in the dream.

Again, he snapped out of his stupor.

Allen reached out and took the older man's hand, shaking it.

"I'm Allen Walker. It's nice to meet you too. I'm terribly sorry for imposing on the two of you like this."

Komui laughed lightly.

"It's no problem. And besides, it's been some time since we've had a visitor."

His overly joking demeanour vanished and he smiled warmly.

The fifteen-year-old boy was slightly bewildered by this action and was speechless as the bespectacled man spoke once more.

"Would you like to have dinner? I'm sure you're hungry."

"O-Oh… Uh, sure."

Komui laughed again.

"Relax, Allen-kun. You don't need to feel so uptight."

This time, said teenager sighed.

Then, he smiled.

"Thank you… Really."

Komui looked as if he didn't understand, but Allen noticed the same knowing aspect in his dark violet eyes that he had seen in Lenalee's earlier at the coffee house.

"I've never met nicer people… All my life, I've been paying off my master's debts. I've never been treated nicely… always called a 'freak'… But the two of you… Despite my scar, my hair… and…" Allen's gaze travelled to his left arm, "that... you haven't call me a freak… The same goes for the rest of the people in this town… I wonder why it's so different…"

A hand rested on his shoulder.

"It seems you've been through a lot, Allen-kun. Let's talk about it over dinner… If you want…"

Allen looked up and nodded gratefully, lightening up. He was _starving._

Komui laughed again.

"Spaghetti's on the menu tonight!"

Both the ebony-haired sixteen-year old and the white-haired boy laughed out loud at this statement and Allen pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

'_That dream was never a dream to begin with. It was a __**memory.**__'_

* * *

_Fin._

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^_^ Please do review and leave me a cookie~


	4. Haunting Darkness Part 1

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: Don't rub it in. I know perfectly well I don't own D. Gray -Man. Hoshino Katsura does.

Chapter 3: Haunting Darkness (Part 1)

* * *

"Lenalee…"

_A sky tainted red with the blood of the dead… _

_The bloodstained carnage, the bloodbath of a fierce battle…_

_No-one survived…_

"No… Don't…"

_A figure._

_Two figures._

_He sees her. He sees her crying, screaming._

_But he can't hear her, can't hear her lamenting._

_He can only see her._

_Watch as she grieves for the dead._

"Lenalee…! Lenalee…!"

_He can't breathe, overwhelmed by water._

_He's drowning._

_But she isn't the only one whose cries are muted._

_She can't see him, and it's like there's an invisible wall of glass between them and he reaches out towards her, calling out to her._

"Lenalee! Lenalee!"

_There is a painful jab in his eye and he hears it scream in pain._

_But as his throat burns mercilessly, no sounds emerge from his mouth._

_Nothing seems to be able to shatter the silence._

_He feels strangled now, and his left arm is screaming, but he doesn't understand._

_What is causing him all this pain?_

"Allen-kun..! Allen-kun…!"

_He looks to the portrait of agony and torment again._

_He hears his name._

_Someone is calling him._

_Calling him from far away._

_And it's _her _voice._

_He is brought back to the nightmare by another excruciating blow of pain to his left shoulder, another sent to his chest, knocking whatever air that is left in it._

_He lets out a painful gasp but is unable to inhale, sucking in only a liquid tainted by death._

_Another scream escapes him._

_He chokes as liquid fills his lungs._

_His eyes widen._

_Something's inside him, just dying to be free._

_He can feel it tearing through his flesh, the monster within him._

_It claws at his left shoulder, trying to break free and satisfy its intense craving for bloodshed._

"Allen-kun, Allen-kun, wake up!"

_The voice is still far away._

_And as he writhes in pain on the ground, he can't pay the fretful velvety sound much attention as the piercing pains continue to terrorize him._

_His silent screams remain unheard._

"Allen-kun! Allen-kun, wake up!"

_He feels his left eye being wrenched open from the inside and he shrieks in protest at the burning ache that ensues._

_But again, silence as the blood rolls off his cheeks and onto the floor._

_His right arm immediately shoots to his eye and he feels the warm, sticky liquid slimy against his fingers._

_He breathes hard and bile rises in his throat._

_But what emerges when he gags is something much more different; the liquid is dark red and sticky._

"_Allen-kun…"_

_He's losing the voice now._

_It's fading, muted in this dark, dark world and he chances a last glance at the Lenalee, whose screaming and crying he still cannot hear._

_He feels the monster ripping through the flesh of his left shoulder._

_He lets out a gasp as there is a terrifying tearing noise._

_But he can't hear it._

_Only feel it._

"Allen-kun! Allen-kun! Are you alright?!"

_Her voice is back and she's practically screaming in his ear now, calling his name, asking if he's alright._

_But her cries, full of the agony of death are still hushed._

_He wants to tell her that he'll be fine, that everything is going to be alright, but asphyxiation still has his airways blocked._

_A large metallic monster is in place of his original left arm and it starts to drag him away from Lenalee._

_He looks at the image again for a moment, totally ignoring the burning sensation he feels all over his body…_

_And he feels himself going numb._

_The pain evaporates and his eyelids are heavy, the black and white world of red skies fading…_

_He sees the blood-soaked ground beneath him disappearing out of sight but doesn't pay it any mind._

_He reaches out to the Lenalee in all that remains of the distant portrait with his right hand and his fingers brush against something wet as darkness engulfs him._

"Allen-kun, Allen-kun! Wake up! You're starting to scare me! Are you-"

The ebony-haired girl stopped short, discontinuing shaking him as he awakened unexpectedly and stared at her, his mind blank as his eyes spilt tears of blood. He was breathing hard as if he hadn't been able to inhale nor exhale for a couple of minutes. And strangely, his right hand was at Lenalee's cheek, brushing away a small trickle of salty water.

"L-Lenalee…"

His vision was black and white on his left and in colour on his right.

Allen didn't know what to make out of it.

He saw the same shock and fear in the ebony haired girl's eyes as he had seen in the past and his heart tightened in pain.

But the boy wasn't given the time to think about it.

He gasped and his left arm throbbed, numbing. His right arm followed suit, losing all feeling. It went limp abruptly, slamming lightly against the side of the couch.

"Allen-kun…"

Lenalee's fearful voice shrivelled his heart further.

The fifteen-year-old turned away from the girl kneeling beside his makeshift bed.

"D-Don't look… L-Lenalee…" Allen choked, coughing into his palm.

The sixteen year-old continued to gaze anxiously at the white-haired boy.

Allen guessed at the question that lingered, unspoken, in the violet orbs which were her eyes.

The answer was pretty obvious.

"I'll be fine… D-Don't worry about me… Go back to sleep… Sorry for waking you…" he gasped as a searing pain hit him in the chest.

He clutched it painfully, stifling a cry.

He couldn't worry Lenalee like this.

And that look in her eyes.

It would haunt him for nights to come.

"Baka!"

There was a light slap on his right shoulder and Allen quivered at the light impact.

He felt so fragile.

"I'm your friend! It's my job to worry about you!"

Allen coughed again and Lenalee's tone softened. She attempted to turn the scarred boy around to face her.

"What's wrong…?"

As he turned around and sat up, his hands went up and covered his bleeding left eye hurriedly.

"N-Nothing's wrong! Just a case of a weird dream… Eheheh…" he lied.

Lenalee's expression darkened perceptibly. Her bangs hid her eyes and Allen felt a bit worried.

"W-What's wrong Lenalee?"

"You were screaming, Allen-kun…"

There was that dangerous lack of sentiment in her voice again.

Said teenager looked away.

"I came to get a glass of water and when I unplugged my ears, I heard screaming."

She looked at him with fierce amethyst eyes.

"Why were you screaming?" she demanded, the stern look in her eyes ever present.

"I…I…"

Allen tried to change the subject.

"Uh, Lenalee, why did you have to unplug your ears?" he stuttered nervously.

"Don't change the subject, Allen-kun."

She was still staring at him ardently.

"There are people in this apartment building who are very noisy at night. They hold loud parties and such, and as a precaution to prevent complaining, the landlady ordered us to use earplugs when we sleep. I forgot to warn you about it."

'_She told me not to change the subject but answered my question anyway?' _

"O-Oh…W-Well, it's alright. Everything's fine now, so you can go back to sleep Lenalee."

"You haven't answered my question."

"E-Er…"

"Why were you screaming?"

Allen looked away guiltily, his hand still over his left eye.

"Like I said… I had a strange dream…"

He rubbed the back of his neck guiltily with his right hand.

"And…? What happened in your dream to make you scream so terribly?"

"I-It was just a bad dream…"

Allen drifted off.

Lenalee was reaching up to pull his hand away from his left eye.

"Is it your left eye, Allen-kun…?"

The throbbing in Allen's eye ceased as Lenalee asked this question, and Allen felt it deactivate.

She pulled his hand away from his face and Allen quickly wiped the blood in one swift motion as he brought his hand down.

He looked at Lenalee with his clear blue-gray orbs, locking gazes with her.

"Good morning the two of you!"

Allen jumped, startled by Komui's sudden entrance.

Lenalee gasped, letting out a startled cry.

The snow-haired boy tumbled off the couch and hit the floor hard, sending a shockwave buzzing through his left arm.

The teen groaned, rubbing his head so that Lenalee wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Besides, he'd landed on his head too.

It didn't hurt as much though.

You get used to your head getting knocked into things with a barbaric master like Cross Marian.

-

"Three hundred and eighty eight, three hundred and eighty nine…"

As the counting mounted to four hundred, there was a yawn from the corner.

Allen almost lost his balance.

He flipped off the chair he had been balancing on.

"L-Lenalee!"

"G'mornin'…"

There was another yawn as the girl rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Why're you up so early?" the snow-haired boy asked, wiping himself with a towel.

"I always get up this early… I need to make nii-san his coffee…"

She shuffled over to the kitchen doorway as Allen pulled on a clean shirt, leaving the towel draped over his white hair.

He grabbed the bottle of water he'd gotten from the refrigerator earlier and unscrewed the cap.

There was the sound of Lenalee boiling water, fire burning under the base of the kettle, as the white-haired boy gulped down mouthful after mouthful of water.

"So, what're you up this early for?"

She was leaning on the doorway, holding a glass of cold milk.

There was a thin sweater wrapped around her shoulders and she rubbed her upper right arm as she waited for Allen's answer.

"Morning routine, I guess. And… I couldn't sleep after…"

He shrugged, his expression imperceptible under the white fabric.

The ebony haired girl looked away from him and down at the floor.

"Well, Mr Bentley's coffee house opens at seven, so I'm going to make breakfast. It'll take a fifteen minute train ride, considering the temperature outside. We can't walk, so train would be the fastest way across these snow-cluttered roads. It would be best to reach early so we don't waste too much time in attracting customers," she stated, still not lifting her head.

Then she looked up.

"So what would you like to eat?"

"Oh. Uh, no, I couldn't possibly trouble you to make me a breakfast of my liking. I'll just have whatever you're…"

Allen didn't finish his sentence.

Lenalee was glaring at him intensely with a fierce look that portrayed more than the same irritation she'd shown when he'd first refused to accept her offer for a lodging; there was a hurt look in her eyes.

The white-haired boy sighed.

He was sure that Lenalee would be able to get him to do whatever she wanted him to do against his will with that look for as long as he was there.

"Pancakes? Do you have pancake batter?" he said from under the towel.

"Mm-hm."

"Pancakes would be nice."

Silence engulfed the room before Allen spoke again, posing a question to Lenalee.

"Hey, you know, you never told me you studied music…"

He watched as the girl turned away from him.

Lenalee was flustered. She could feel the blush creeping up her neck.

"W-Well, I… I didn't think it was important…"

"Oh."

She sensed the hostility in his voice.

But the moment she turned around to look at him, his expression proved the feeling she got from his words to be false.

His eyebrows were knotted in confusion and his mouth was set in a tight line.

He seemed to be thinking and was probably trying to determine the connection rather than be angry at her for not telling him her involvement in music.

Then his eyebrows shot up and he looked up at Lenalee abruptly, startling her.

"You're in the Latitude Music Faculty, aren't you?" he asked in a little less than surprised tone.

She looked down at her bare feet, wiggling her toes.

"Yeah…"

"No wonder you know so much."

"Mmn."

-

"So Allen, you're a traveller?"

Said fifteen-year old set his glass of orange juice down.

"No, not exactly."

He tapped a finger on his chin.

"I travel with my master to different places. It's been that way for three years now."

Komui smiled.

"Are you an apprentice?" he asked.

Allen didn't answer at first; his mouth was full of honey-slobbered pancakes.

Lenalee giggled.

"Well," he said after he had swallowed the mouthful of food, "yes."

"Oh? What do you study under your master?"

Allen gulped down the orange juice in his glass.

"Music!" he exclaimed happily.

He turned to Lenalee.

"These pancakes are wonderful!"

She beamed.

"Thank you. I'm flattered."

"Oho…"

The sound that had just emerged from Komui's lips made Allen and Lenalee turn in his direction.

"Ne, Allen…"

The boy almost backed up and out of his chair at the evil glint in the man's eyes.

"Y-Yes, Komui-san?"

He stole a glance at Lenalee.

To find she was sipping up her milk.

Allen controlled himself, containing the urge to smack his forehead, and turned back to the crazed looking man.

"Do you think my Lenalee is pretty?"

His eyes goggled.

And from the corners of those big, wondrous blue-grey orbs, Allen could see Lenalee almost choking on what she had just sucked into her mouth.

She coughed and excused herself, needing to use the bathroom.

There was a long pause and the fifteen-year-old thought that Komui had dropped the topic.

His gaze wandered around the room absentmindedly.

"Well, Allen…?"

This brought Allen to look at the older man straight in the face.

There was still an evil glistening spark in the man's eyes

And the reason he had pressed harder for an answer, was unknown to the boy.

He was flustered, utterly red in the face.

And lucky for him, Lenalee was still away.

"Sh-She…"

He looked around, and in his anxiety, he outright missed the footsteps that were coming around the corner.

But when he answered, his voice was certain.

He smiled as Lenalee appeared in the doorway.

"She's not just '_pretty_'. She's _beautiful_."

-

Lenalee stopped short.

She grabbed the doorway so tight her knuckles turned white.

The girl backed up as quietly as she could and clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to silence her haggard breathing.

'_W-What? He thinks I'm beautiful?'_

Lenalee almost started hyperventilating.

The words echoed in her head and her all her thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind.

'_She's not just '_pretty'_. She's _beautiful.'

The sentence just kept on ringing, and everything was nothing.

-

Komui looked shocked at first.

Allen grew anxious.

"K-Komui-san?"

He waved a hand in front of the older man's face.

"Hello?"

Still, nothing happened.

Allen sighed.

"Okay, uh…"

He thought for a moment.

Then, he reached across the table and snapped his fingers a few inches away from the man's eyes.

Instantly Komui was out of his stupor.

"Sorry, what?"

Allen just stared blankly at him, wishing hard for the same sense of knowing he had encountered the previous night again.

"Oh, right!"

Allen slumped back against the chair.

'_Thank god I don't have to tell him again._'

"You said Lenalee was beautiful?"

The scarred boy flushed a deep red.

He watched as Komui took a swig of coffee.

"That's good…"

He laughed, and the white-haired boy watched quietly.

"Almost all of the guys who've come by here in the last few years have all said she's 'hot' or, that she was just 'pretty'. Not one of them has ever said she was _beautiful._"

Komui continued eating his breakfast as Allen got up to clean his plate and put it in the cupboard.

"Right, moving on, what were we talking about before Lenalee left?"

Allen shrugged at the question the dark-eyed man had just posed and replied, "Pancakes and my master, I think."

"Right."

"Mm."

There was a momentary period of silence as Allen moved back to his seat.

"So, who's your master? Is he famous?"

"His name's Cross Marian. He studied at the Latitude Music Faculty and has been a mentor and teacher there for quite some time. But, according to him, the mentors are supposed to go around the world looking for apprentices. But, I don't know if he's famous."

The boy watched as Komui's mouth fell open.

"Cross Marian is your _master_?!"

Allen raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Holy cows are flying."

-

Lenalee turned as the last few words escaped her brother's mouth, knocked out of her stupor.

She'd never heard her brother utter such nonsensical words in her entire life.

"Cross Marian is your _master_?"

She heard her brother speaking again.

"Uh," Allen stuttered from behind the wall, "well, yeah, I guess. If by master you mean that you have to travel around with him, and train by paying off his obnoxious debts for him."

There was a brief pause in the conversation.

Then, Komui laughed loudly.

"What? So _that's _what he got an apprentice for?"

There were loud gawking noises, as Allen looked on in shocked silence.

Lenalee chose that moment to enter the conversation, seeing it as a good avenue to enter the room.

"Nii-san, stop being so noisy. You'll wake the neighbours. It's a Sunday. People in this apartment sleep in on days like this, you know that," she said, feigning a sense of unknowing, "And Allen, please get ready. We're leaving in five minutes' time."

-

The red of whatever leaves were left from autumn flashed by with the world around them.

There was the soft rumbling of the train sliding along on the train tracks.

This was getting pretty intriguing.

How come no one here seemed to care neither about his white hair, his scar nor about his deformed left arm?

They made a very negative impression elsewhere, and no one here seemed to notice?

Allen shook his head, attempting to clear the distressing thoughts that plagued his mind.

He decided to focus on something else.

"Ne, Lenalee."

"Hm?"

"Who exactly _is _Cross Marian in the Latitude Faculty of Music?"

Lenalee stared at him.

"What?"

"Cross Marian? How do you know about him?"

She wasn't exactly lying, just keeping the truth about her awareness of the situation from her newfound friend.

Allen too, pondered at the question.

Should he tell her?

He decided that, just in case, he'd tell her the truth.

He didn't want to lose her trust.

"He's my master, so..."

Lenalee stared at him momentarily again.

She pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, in that case..."

Her tone changed, and her face was distorted in irritation.

"He's the loudest, meanest, most flirtatious person I've ever met!"

She narrowed her eyes.

"And I really don't like him that much. He's always smelled like alcohol and beer the few times we've crossed paths."

Her expression darkened.

Allen couldn't see her eyes in the shadow of her bangs.

The world outside disappeared as they entered a tunnel.

"What's wrong?"

"He took someone away from me."

The white-haired boy knew _exactly_ what she was talking about.

Well, almost.

Lenalee suddenly let out a startled cry.

"Oh dear! I'm rambling."

She flushed deeply.

"Sorry, Allen-kun."

Allen shook his head, smiling.

"I want to hear it. So go on."

He definitely did want to know about this. It would confirm his doubts on whether or not she was the Lenalee from the memory that plagued his dreams every night.

She shook her head furiously. Allen figured she was trying to clear her head of the scary encounter they'd had with Cross all those years ago.

"No, I couldn't possibly…"

Storm grey eyes gazed deeply, ardently into deep violet ones.

"Please."

Lenalee looked away for a brief moment, unsettled by the intensity of his gaze.

"I-"

The sixteen-year-old was cut off as the train shook violently. Allen almost lost his footing.

But he didn't. Instead, along with a lot of other people, Lenalee did.

"Whoa!"

Arms flailing, she let out a startled cry as she slammed into Allen, resulting in him jerking backwards and crashing into the glass of the window behind them. And, unluckily, the transparent surface shattered upon impact, sending shards of it flying all over.

The white haired boy shielded the girl with his arms, where some of the crystalline shards bounced off, others, digging into the fabric and carving their way into Allen's skin.

They were falling now, but being unfazed by his painful contact with the small object, he grabbed a random pole within reach just in time.

Then the world stopped spinning and the lights flashed, some broken.

Allen blinked wildly, trying to grasp the situation.

The ebony-haired girl was squashed against him.

When she looked up, she could see Allen rubbing his head with his free hand.

"Ow..."

He drew it away from his head, looking dazedly at the red liquid smeared over his palm.

Apparently some glass had found its way to his head.

Lenalee gasped.

"Allen-kun! Are you alright?!"

Allen mouthed a silent 'fine', and continued to stare at his bloodied hand, astonished.

"No wonder it stings..." he mumbled.

Hearing this shocked Lenalee despite its mild volume, and she made a fretful sound, definitely misbelieving what the boy in question had just told her.

"I'm so sorry!"

Her shrill apology snapped him out of his stupor.

He looked at her, eyes a little confused.

"Relax Lenalee, it's just a little cut."

He looked behind him, noting the fact that the train hadn't been modified for a case of emergency crash; so of course the glass hadn't been shatter-proof.

When he turned back to Lenalee, he was greeted by a terribly worried face and teary eyes that just about broke his heart.

"W-What?"

"Allen-kun... Your hair... The back of your head... It's going red..."

He blinked, the fact that would normally incredibly unnerve someone lacking in effect on him.

"Oh."

He scratched his cheek, looking around them. There were people sprawled all over, the majority being the people who had been standing in the moving train. Most were attempting to get up and Allen could see no injured people. He turned to the girl who was still squashed against his chest. Her eyes were shut tight as if deep in thought.

A tear slipped past Lenalee's eyelids just then, and the white-haired fifteen-year-old became nervous.

"Are you alright, Lenalee? Did any of the glass get to you? Do you hurt anywhere?"

She perked up at his string of worried questions, the contained sobbing noises from her throat stopping.

She pressed in closer to him and he flushed.

"No, I am not! Your head is bleeding, and your hair is going red, but you don't seem to care!" she whispered angrily.

She frowned, her eyebrows knotting together.

The light pink on his cheeks faded, and he decided to change the subject, more than a little determined to get rid of the tense atmosphere that had accrued between them as he averted his eyes to the violin case that was lying flat on the floor.

Besides, he didn't really care about a little cut.

It was, after all, just a little cut.

"What was that anyway?"

Lenalee gave him no answer, and remained silent.

The boy was slightly unnerved by her reticence, but attempted ignorance.

He turned to look out the window, only to find an endless mass of black outside.

'_Crap. We're in a tunnel.'_

Allen bit his lip.

'_If we're in a tunnel, and another train comes in, this'll get ugly."_

_

* * *

_

A/N: Hello~! I updated early 'cause I might be sleeping in really late tomorrow, so. I hope you liked it.  
Review? Please?


	5. Haunting Darkness Part 2

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: If I owned D. Gray -Man, Allen would have black hair, Lavi would wear his hair down all the time, and Yuu would play the violin. Characters are Hoshino's.

Chapter 4: Haunting Darkness (Part 2)

* * *

Allen picked up his violin case.

"Lenalee, we'll talk about this later. For now, I need you to help me."

He pointed outside with his free hand.

"We're in a tunnel. And if we stay in this tunnel, another train will come and we'll all die."

There was a whimper from the corner.

Allen spun around to see who had made the terrified noise.

A girl shrunk back into the shadows, afraid.

Allen was surprised that anyone other than themselves had actually avoided a fall when the train had skidded to a halt.

He lowered his voice at the girl's terrified expression.

"We need to get to the driver of this train, and see why he even stopped the train in the first place," he whispered.

Lenalee nodded.

"You gather some help and evacuate the train. Get everyone to walk by the sides of the tunnel and keep away from the track. Then, with any able-bodied people you can find, head to the driver's cabin. I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."

Lenalee kept quiet again, replying with another head gesture.

He released her, and turned to face the little girl.

"Hey, what's your name? I'm Allen," he said, his tone gentle.

"A-Amamiya Sh-Shouko…"

He smiled warmly at her and her large emerald eyes widened, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks.

"Everything's going to be alright, Shouko-chan. Onii-chan will make it all better, alright? So until Onii-chan comes back, will you take care of this for me?"

He handed her the violin case.

Its weight pulled her petite arms down, and she seemed slightly overwhelmed.

But the moment passed and she hugged it close to her chest in a tight embrace.

"O-Okay, Onii-chan."

He smiled at her again.

"Stay with that Onee-chan over there. Her name is Lenalee. She'll help you and your Mama get out safe alright?"

He put a hand on her head and stroked her hair gently.

Shouko nodded shyly, and she rushed over to Lenalee, who smiled warmly at her, the same comfort emanating from her as it had from Allen.

The fifteen year-old waved lightly when Lenalee glanced at him over her shoulder before heading off in the opposite direction as she moved to help the people who had collapsed around them.

-

Komui sipped at his pre-brewed coffee, staring at the television screen intently. They were screening a violin duet of one of the hardest pieces that ever existed. He continued to watch intently, just as the song was about to end. He had heard that the ending would be recognizable from the string of powerful notes towards the end.

Just then, much to the twenty-nine year-old's dismay, the television program was interrupted by a news flash.

Komui scowled. He'd definitely missed the extravagant ending of the song.

But something the newscaster said caught his attention.

"…a train has stopped in a tunnel, seeming to have broken down. Investigations are being carried out as to how this could have happened, but a security camera inside said tunnel has caught some footage of people moving around in the immobilized train…"

A short video flashed on the screen, muted, and froze at a particular scene where a few faces were visible.

The camera zoomed in and the supervisor could make out two familiar faces amongst the visible ones.

His mug landed with a loud crash on the wood-panelled floor as he stood, mortified, staring at the face of _his _Lenalee on the television screen, running in the opposite direction of the also visible Allen Walker, a little girl hugging a violin case in her arms.

The words of the newscaster were silenced, a faint murmur in the distance, as Komui's heart pounded painfully in his chest, anxiety building up inside him.

His sister was in the train that had broken down in the tunnel.

-

Allen forced the door to the driver's cabin open, a loud creak shattering the eerie silence that had settled around him. There were no more passengers here; he'd asked them all to evacuate first and let him rescue the train driver.

The only thing wedged between him and the driver's cabin now was the half-opened door, and Allen strained against its stubborn position, using all his strength to pull the door away.

Pain throbbed in his left arm increasingly, but he did not falter. Instead he doubled his efforts.

Finally the door came free.

Allen's gaze wandered around the driver's cabin frantically, searching for the driver, but he found no one, and astonished, he stood motionless, confused.

A screaming pain hit him, but he did not budge as a voice cried out for help and a gruesome sight came into view.

The world on his left was black and white again, and he could see the mourning soul, crying out in torment and suffering before him.

-

Lenalee had gotten most of the people out. It wasn't a very big train, so it had not taken her very long to get everyone out. Shouko had evacuated the area with Allen's borrowed violin in her arms, making the ebony-haired girl pinky promise to come out safely with the Onii-chan.

There had been people wanting to help them out as well, but she couldn't bring herself to bring them along to where Allen was.

Allen…

She hoped he was alright.

She raced through the cabins in the dim light, carefully avoiding bumps and dents in the metal plated floors until she had Allen's seemingly motionless form in her sights.

Why was he standing so stock still?

Lenalee did not understand what was happening to her friend, but she could tell by the way he trembled that it wasn't pleasant.

"Allen-kun, Allen-kun!" she called, but he didn't hear her.

Fearing the worst, she rushed towards him, anxious to find out what had petrified him so.

But what she saw, she had definitely not expected.

A gasp escaped her lips when she saw the blood trailing out of Allen's eye for the second time, the iris once again the horrifying colour of blood blended in with a coal black. However, what he was staring at intrigued her further.

"What is _that_?"

"_Akuma,_" Allen stated bluntly, dispassionately.

His tone frightened Lenalee, alerting her that Allen wasn't exactly in the right state of mind.

He sounded dazed.

And besides, how on _earth _did he know what that _thing _was?

"Allen-"

She was harshly cut off as a loud tearing noise filled the silence and blood splattered on her face.

She tasted the iron in her mouth and started.

Looking at Allen, she was terrified to find that his arm was abnormally proportioned and was plated with metallic silver pieces, with claw-like fingers. His shoulder emitted a green glow that flowed in waves, like a flame. The thing that had replaced Allen's left arm was disorienting.

It had practically torn through the flesh of his left arm, spattering blood on her face.

But Allen did not budge.

He simply stared ahead at the monster before them. It looked as shocked to see them as she was to see it.

The monstrosity before them was gruesome.

Lenalee cringed, flinching at the sight of it.

It had a dozen or so large cannon barrels attached to its hefty metallic silver body and wiring stuck out of the end of the little cylinder attached to the bottom of it.

But it was the face of the disgusting creature that unnerved Lenalee so much her insides squirmed.

It had a simple oval-shaped face, but it had an agonized expression carved on.

Its mouth was held in an eternal scream, and it looked to be bleeding from the eyes with black blood.

Allen chose to move then.

It snapped out of its stupor in sync with Allen's movement, and soon, the barrels of over fifteen large cannons were pointedly targeting Lenalee.

The girl had no idea how it was possible for the cannons to face her entirely, contorting this way and that.

Fear engulfed her.

"A-Allen-kun…"

The boy looked down with cold, cruel eyes. His face was expressionless and like hers, splattered with blood; the same blood that was trickling down the metallic arm, _his_ arm.

Lenalee felt a tingling sensation coming from her feet, like a new heavy weight on her ankles.

Confused, the ebony-haired looked down at her feet to discover something remarkable.

Her feet were _glowing _with a greenish light.

Or rather, her _shoes_ were.

"_What_ is this?"

-

A certain red-headed boy stared dazedly at the sparkling ocean before him.  
It was noon time, and the old panda had gotten him to run an errand.

But he couldn't remember what that was.

He'd gone looking for Yuu instead, but the samurai was nowhere to be seen.

Lavi sighed.

It was about time he got back to the old man. Otherwise, there'd be a lot of squabbling, including some punches, kicks and bitch-slaps.

Just then, the hammer strapped to his right thigh began to glow.

It was weird for him to carry around a hammer, yes, but when did one know when to have a weapon handy?

It wasn't exactly a hammer. It was more of a mallet.

His keen senses immediately sensed it, and he subconsciously pulled the little weapon out of its holster.

"_What_ the _hell_?"

-

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

Three down, two to go.

In three quick slashes, the remaining heads were sliced right off their shoulders.

"Che. How boring."

He settled his midnight blue katana on his shoulder and sighed irritably.

The practice had been so stupidly simple that the ebony-haired eighteen-year-old hadn't even broken a sweat.

Compared to cutting the head of a moving object, like that stupid rabbit for example, this was no better than child's play.

He had left his violin practicing momentarily to gain further peace of mind in his training, however, taking out such easy targets disgusted him and he had grown even more restless.

Sighing again, Kanda crossed his legs and sat down as he put his sheathed blade down on the ground next to him. He folded his arms, his eyebrows knotted in irritation. How hard was it to get a suitable fighting partner?!

The samurai grunted in irritation.

Suddenly, a soft blue light emanated from the katana by his side, sparkling from the edge of the sheath.

Alarmed, the Japanese teen quickly uncovered his blade, and was struck with awe in an instant.

It was glowing with a strange blue light.

-

She watched as Allen darted about in the darkness, the only illumination being the dim tunnel lights and the green glow from his shoulder.

Her feet grew restless as the green light brightened with each passing moment.

Lenalee looked down at her feet, her eyebrows slanting downwards in the middle.

What the hell was going on?

Nothing made any sense.

Her feet were _glowing_, a _monstrous creature_ had appeared before them, and in place of Allen's left arm was a _dreadful beast_ with a terribly conspicuous killing intent.

Finally, she felt it.

There was a pulsing coming from her feet, a strange sensation that willed for her to lunge at the beast Allen had referred to as '_Akuma_' or demon.

But why?

The ebony-haired girl tried to understand, but failed to comprehend.

What were these '_Akuma_'?

Why were Allen's left arm and left eye in such forms?

And the question that pained her heart the most; why was Allen acting so _cold_?

Again, the pulsing from her feet caught her attention.

They wanted her to _jump_.

And what was worse, they wanted her to jump at the _akuma._

-

Lavi had no idea what had gotten into his hammer.

Non-living beings were not supposed to be pulsing in this odd manner.

The hammer pulsed continuously, and he could feel it pulling at the very heart of his existence in the direction of the train station five minutes' walk away from where he now stood.

But why did it want him to go _there_?

This was all so confusing.

First it had begun glowing for no apparent reason, just as he'd started to think about heading back.

And now, it was pulling him, with some unknown force, to the train station.

-

Kanda had immediately stood up the moment the blade began to emit a vengeful killing intent.

And now, with Mugen in his hands, he was walking briskly in a random direction to a random place.

Of all the randomness, something else was strange.

He could sense them, the two or three other similar forces.

And these forces emitted similar killing intents.

The only one among them that drew his attention had a power that could raise the goose-bumps on his skin.

And that wasn't easy.

We are talking about Kanda Yuu, after all.

Distracted, he charged right into another person and cussed loudly.

He continued his blank stare in the direction the unknown force pulled him to, and started fast-paced walking again.

"Yuu?"

At the call of his given name, the samurai had his sword pointed at the redhead's throat.

"Whoa, jeez."

Kanda suddenly realized something. The sword was still glowing.

Quickly, he sheathed it.

Continuing to march with large strides, the raven-haired sword-wielder said, "Do _not _call me that, Baka Usagi."

-

The dim light sources in the tunnel exploded with the sheer force of her kicks as she danced on the air, spinning in circles as more and more of the monstrous creatures poured into the darkness. Where they came from, Lenalee could care less.

She angled herself easily, slamming down on akuma one after the other easily. There was a beautiful grace of her movements as she glided and jumped, whirling around.

Allen continued to pursue the masses of the beasts on foot, darting swiftly this way and that, nimble and agile on his feet.

His over-sized silver plated arm did nothing to hinder him.

Helpfully, it lunged out at an akuma at each of the instances Allen glanced at them.

His eyes, already the complex grey of storm clouds, were cold and icy.

He had not earned any bruises at all during his and Lenalee's onslaught against the akuma, save for the constant line of blood running down from his eye.

His left arm contributed greatly to the massive blood loss he faced as well.

Lenalee whirled and spun between the beasts the air a podium where she danced.

Like a butterfly she slipped between them, smashing into them with the brute force of her legs.

But this couldn't go on forever.

And the akuma were continuously pouring in.

From the corner of her eye, she could see a faint shade of white darting in between the creatures and a shimmer of metallic silver amidst the smoke that was the death of them.

But Lenalee was tiring quickly, and she was sure Allen wouldn't be able to keep up like this for too long either.

The ebony-haired girl darted out of the way and gyrated into the darkness as a large black hammer flew out from the endless darkness of the tunnel and hit an akuma that had been right behind her. Her fatigue had almost spelled her death, allowing her miss the foe sneaking up behind her.

There was some shouting from the shadows that followed, something Lenalee could not make out. Much to her surprise, ghost-like insects, all rather large, darted from an ephemeral glint of silver-blue metal, colliding with the akuma, destroying several at once.

This invisible force continued to penetrate the group of akuma and Lenalee stood to the side, staring in shock.

Flames erupted from wherever the hammer head stamped, and the blurred figure of the one wielding it wove through the crowd of akuma as quickly as Allen did, the sixteen-year-old observed.

The other figure darted about swiftly, blue katana in hand and didn't seem to mind diving head first into the blood that sprayed out from the mangled bodies of the defeated akuma. He made it look easy.

Now rested, Lenalee sprang back into action with full force, and the number of akuma dwindled down to nothing.

She stood to one side, knees shaking with exhaustion before they buckled under her and she collapsed in a tired heap on the ground next to the train tracks.

"Whew…"

There was a tired sigh beside her as someone slumped down to the ground, settling in a lazy sitting position.

There was a tiny glint of green before the eye of the one who had saved her with the hammer closed, and immediately, Lenalee recognized his voice.

"L-Lavi?!"

"Yo, Lena-chan."

She could make out a light cream colour in the darkness in the shape of a peace sign.

"Yuu-chan…"

The name was a long drawl in the darkness and echoed about them, bouncing off the walls.

"_How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that before I slice you to ribbons?_"

A katana was pointedly positioned to the Bookman apprentice's neck, dangerously close to his Adam's apple.

"Ah, Yuu-chan… There you are!"

At the daring comment, the sword poked the bump lightly, and the hand around its hilt tightened, knuckles white as if restraining some form of brute force.

Lenalee looked on, sighing to herself.

"Kanda, Lavi, stop bickering. There's still one of us in this tunnel, and we need to find him."

She looked away from the two and squinted in the darkness, trying in vain to see the contorted train passenger cars sprawled all over the tracks, and possibly pin point the location of her white-haired comrade.

But he was no-where to be found.

"Allen-kun, Allen-kun!" she called, her hands raised, cupping her mouth.

But the only reply from within the dark gloom of the tunnel was the echo of her own voice.

Lenalee's shoulders dropped, and she looked out forlornly into the darkness.

But there was still no reply.

"Maybe he went back inside the train…" she trailed off.

Turning to look at the two bickering by the sidelines, she announced, "I'm going to go look for him. You guys get out first."

Lavi immediately turned to face her, his mouth hanging open.

"What? We can't let a _girl _go by herself! Right, _Yuu-chan_?"

"BAKA USAGI! I'M GOING TO CUT YOUR HEAD OFF AND DICE YOU TO BITS!"

And the comical running around began.

Lenalee smacked her forehead with her palm, shaking her head.

She then proceeded to look for Allen among the damaged passenger cars.

-

He staggered lightly against the walls, cradling his left shoulder with his right hand.

His breath came out in puffs of white in the darkness of the tunnel as the blood continued to pour out from his side.

"What… the… hell… just happened…?" he whispered.

The fact that he didn't have any idea where he was was one thing. Another thing was that he'd lost sight of Lenalee in the darkness. However another matter entirely…

What _were_ those things?

"_Allen-kun, Allen-kun!_"

He looked up tiredly, his neck muscles as exhausted as all the other muscles were.

Lenalee was calling him.

He wanted to answer her, but his attempt at calling to her ended in a strangled cough. He couldn't find his voice even if he wanted to shout back.

He staggered against the wall, clinging to it for support, his fingers grabbing desperately at the bricked structure, scraping his fingers against the concrete.

Finally, he slumped to the ground in a tired heap.

Footsteps echoed around him in the darkness.

Allen couldn't make out who or what was making the noise but he hoped it was Lenalee.

He readied himself for a possible attack from those _things_ again.

"Che."

-

The swordsman was a bit surprised at the blood at his feet.

It soaked slowly into the gravel under him.

Then he sensed a movement in the darkness.

There was a loud tearing noise and a flash of silver with a soft green glow as he drew his katana.

Metal clashed against metal and a small spark lit in the darkness as he caught sight of a bloodied face.

He pushed harder against the invisible force but it retaliated and a large metallic hand tried to quick-slash him in the side.

He caught it with Mugen's hilt and spun around, taking his opponent by surprise.

But the opponent was fast to react and adapted to his defences.

He kicked his leg under the samurai and forced him to the ground, pointing a sharp silver finger at his throat.

The assailant stepped into the dim light and Kanda caught sight of his dazed silver-grey eyes.

"_Who…are…you…?_" a cold voice questioned.

Just then, the eyes rolled backwards, the arm shrunk back to its original form and the blue-haired eighteen-year-old looked on as his attacker fell backwards.

Blood began to crawl slowly across the gravel once more as Kanda got up and dusted himself off.

He could see the silver-haired boy now.

He tried to recall the descriptions of the one he and the stupid rabbit had been told to find.

"Silver hair, Silver eyes, quite short… Fits the descriptions."

He turned around to call behind him.

"Oi, Lenalee, Rabbit. I've found the bean sprout."

* * *

_Chapter Four, END._

_

* * *

_

A/N: YAY! Hello! I hope you liked this chapter! :D And to all who reviewed, you have my greatest thanks, and a basket of cookie for each of you~! I update early because where I am, it's already sunday! so, yeahh. here's your chapter.

And to those who leave anonymus reviews, do leave your email address! I would like to reply, but you don't leave your email addresses, so I have no idea how to reply to your lovely reviews. thanks. :D


	6. Enigma

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray -Man. And I hope it continues soon.

Chapter 5: Enigma

A/N: Enjoy.

* * *

"What the hell is going on?!"

_Voices…_

"I… I really don't know..."

_Her voice…_

"Calm down, Yuu! We can't expect her to know what just happened!"

_Another voice…_

_Then, an irritated growl._

"Well, maybe this stupid bean sprout knows what's going on. Let's wake him up."

"Ah, Yuu-!"

"Kanda, don't! He needs to rest!"

Allen chose that moment to speak.

"What are you arguing about?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from not having spoken for a long while.

"Allen-kun! Are you alright!?"

"Fine."

He opened his grey eyes to receive the bright glare of the ceiling light.

They snapped shut again.

"Wha-"

He opened his eyes again, but did not falter, unaffected by the light.

He caught sight of a familiar face-besides Lenalee.

The face from the figure in the shadows that he had fought.

His eyes widened.

There was a potential enemy amongst them.

It didn't look like neither Lenalee nor the red-head seemed to realize this.

Allen jumped out of the bed, startling Lenalee.

Blood began to seep through his bandages; the wound on his shoulder had re-opened.

"You!"

The stoic-looking man raised an eyebrow and looked at him as if he were crazy.

"What?"

"You're the brute I was fighting in the shadows!"

He waved an accusing finger at his former opponent.

The raven-haired man raised an eyebrow.

Lenalee noticed the blood seeping through the boy's shirt.

"Allen-kun! You're wound's reopened-"

"Lenalee this guy is dangerous! He attacked me when we were back at the tunnel-"

His voice caught in his throat.

The world suddenly began to swirl around him suddenly.

Everything was spinning.

"Wh-"

And he blacked out again.

-

Allen sat up for the second time that day.

Blinking to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness of the room, the snow-haired boy attempted to sit up.

"Ah, Allen-kun, don't! You shouldn't be moving!"

Lenalee had been seated in a chair beside the bed.

He cast her a stubborn look.

"Heck. I'm fine. Now where's that bastard-"

He pulled the covers off and attempted to get off the bed in one quick motion once more.

A screaming pain ran up his left side and he froze with a gasp as the air in his lungs escaped him.

He gritted his teeth in an attempt to not scream.

He crumpled on the floor, almost writhing in pain.

Lenalee rushed to his side, helping him up.

Ignoring the I-told-you-so stares the girl sent him, he asked, "Where is he?"

"You mean Kanda?"

Allen rose slowly, and crawled shakily back into the bed.

"Is that his name? He attacked me. Do you know him?" he asked.

"Yes, I do. And he didn't _attack_ you. We were looking for you and he got to you first. I think it was you who took it the wrong way."

"Right…"

Lenalee watched as Allen scratched his bandaged head irritably, with an annoyed expression on his face.

"A-Ah! No offence though, Allen-kun."

"I'm not worried about that…" the boy muttered.

He looked around him wearily, casting his gaze around the room as he took in his surroundings.

"More like, where am I?"

"You're at a private hospital."

Allen's gaze fell on the red-head whom had just spoken.

"I'm Lavi. Nice to meet ya."

He offered the white-haired boy a hand.

He gladly shook hands with his newfound friend and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too."

Then the door opened.

The one who'd assaulted Allen in the tunnel- from his point of view- stepped into the room and took one look at him before letting out a disgusted sigh.

"The bean sprout is awake, eh?"

Allen looked away sheepishly.

"Uh… Yeah… I'm sorry about earlier. I think maybe I over-reacted. So, I apologize."

He wasn't proud enough to go on without apologizing for his mistake.

"Che. Whatever."

Allen chanced a glance at the raven-haired teen in the corner with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, Yuu doesn't like people much," Lavi explained.

There was a visible vein threatening to pop on Kanda's head.

"_How many times do you need me to say it for you to get it in that thick skull of yours?!"_

There was suddenly a very sharp tip of a _katana_ pointed threateningly at the Adam's apple of the red-head.

"Stop it you two."

Lenalee spoke this time.

She smacked both of the bickering teenagers with a clip board.

It seemed to have come from the side panel of Allen's bed.

Kanda went to some secluded corner by himself as Lavi came to stand next to the bed once again.

Allen was unaffected by the development of the conversation between the three.

"How long was I out?"

Lenalee locked her fingers together.

Obviously she knew what time meant to Allen.

"A-A couple of days…"

"How many exactly?"

"Four…"

The boy groaned.

'_Now how am I going to repay master's debts? I missed so many days of my job at the coffee house!"_

Noticing her friend's frustration, Lenalee decided to change the subject.

"A-Are you hungry, Allen-kun?"

The boy ran a hand through his hair.

"Not really."

Truth be told, he was.

And his stomach decided to contradict his words entirely.

It led out a loud low growl.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ah, crap…"

"You _are_ hungry! Allen-kun, if you tell us you're not hungry when you are, you won't get better quickly!"

"Yeah, moyashi. You're still growing aren't you? You need to eat so you can get taller! If not, no-one will be your girlfriend!"

He nodded at Lenalee with a grin.

The girl flushed and using her almighty clipboard smacked Lavi on the head hard. Really hard.

Allen almost thought he'd heard a soft _crack_ sound.

"Lavi!"

"Ow, what?" he asked innocently.

Lenalee sighed, shaking her head.

She decided to let it go.

She had hit him already, after all.

"Nevermind."

She turned back to Allen.

"I'll go tell the doctors that you're awake, and maybe get some food for you. Lavi, Kanda, watch him and make sure he doesn't move too much."

Smiling, Lavi waved the ebony-haired girl off.

As soon as Lenalee was out of earshot, he turned to face Allen.

And suddenly, his playful demeanour had become serious.

"What were those things we were fighting in the tunnel?"

Allen gulped nervously at the intensity of the red-head's stare.

"I-I don't know."

"Lena-chan said you told her it was something called an _akuma_, correct?"

The white-haired boy was confused.

He'd said that?

His eyebrows furrowed in uncertainty.

"I can't remember anything."

At this point, Kanda had had enough.

He strode across the room from his secluded corner of the room and grabbed Allen's shirt.

"Look you short bastard, I know what I saw. I saw you and your freakish arm in that fucking tunnel and I know you know something."

By this time Allen was pissed off.

What was with this guy?

Why was he so persistent?

The raven-haired man stared him down with a dark cold glare.

Allen glowered straight back with burning silver orbs.

There had been no reason for him to use such vulgarities and rude, aggressive actions.

How uncivilised.

His head began to throb.

"Look, I don't know. I only remember up to the point where…"

Suddenly dizzy, memories of the time in the tunnel flashed in his head.

_Him shoving the door open…_

_The train conductor transforming into this strange ugly monster…_

_Lenalee coming from behind…_

_Her voice…_

_Then, another monster…_

_One red eye, one grey eye…_

_A world of black and white…_

_The sudden taste of iron on his tongue…_

_A sticky red liquid on his face…_

_Lenalee's gasp…_

_Blood on her face…_

_The fear reflected in her eyes…_

_**He **__was the monster…_

Allen gripped his head as the memories continued to haunt him from the inside, throwing him into a fierce series of convulsions.

"Oi, Allen, Allen! Get a hold of yourself!"

There was shock evident in his friend's voice, worry etched in along with it.

But he could not hear anything.

"Hey! Yuu, go get the doctor!"

The samurai left without a word.

Allen's spasms continued as he thrashed about in the bed, the memories irking him.

Lavi caught sight of the red liquid streaming down the younger teen's left cheek and was suddenly alarmed.

"Allen, Allen!"

He caught the fifteen-year-old by the shoulders, shaking him forcefully.

But Allen continued to tremble in paroxysm.

"Hey, Allen, Allen!"

The red-head continued to shake the boy's shoulders.

There was a clang of porcelain and shattering glass on the tiled floor from behind them.

-

_**He was talking to it.**_

"_Save me! Save me, please!"_

_**They were pleading.**_

_What is this…?_

_**They were screaming. Their bloodied faces, charred with hatred.**_

_**They were so pitiful…**_

"_Thank you… for freeing us…"_

_-_

"Allen-kun, shush, Allen-kun."

_A soft voice…_

_A warm embrace rocking back and forth…_

He opened his eyes.

He could feel the salty liquid of his tears slide down his cheeks, and his eyes were wet with tears.

But the terrifying visions were gone.

And in place of the cold chill that had taunted him, there was a warm tenderness.

Someone was hugging him.

"L-Lenalee…?"

Immediately the warmth drew back and Allen regretted calling her name.

It was cold again.

"Allen-kun! Are you alright?!"

Lenalee was seated on his bed.

She had tears at the sides of her eyes.

"Yeah, Moyashi. Gave us quite the scare ya know."

"Lavi!"

"What?"

Lenalee sighed.

She wiped the salty liquid from her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse.

"I-I'm fine. Just…"

He was dizzy again.

The memories were calling him back into the darker corners of his mind.

He shook his head, trying to clear any vexing thoughts.

This resulted in a sharp pain. His brain felt as if it were suspended in water and was being thrown about.

He rubbed his temples painfully.

"What happened?"

"You had a form of seizure. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just a bit dizzy."

'_And cold…'_

"And Lenalee had to _hug_ you just for you to stop shaking! Wow! The charm of women."

Lenalee's cheeks reddened.

She nearly slapped him, and Lavi flinched.

Lenalee caught herself before she harmed Lavi very painfully, the redhead ending up with a simple whack in the shoulder.

"LAVI!"

"Ow, what? Lena-chan is extra violent today…"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

Allen was too out-of-it to grasp the situation.

Cheeks still flushed lightly, the ebony-haired girl poured Allen a glass of water.

"Here, have some water."

The white-haired boy had no idea how his friend had just read his mind; his throat felt like sandpaper.

With shaking hands, he gratefully reached out for the glass of water that was being handed to him.

Upon contact, the cold forced him to draw his hands back. The glass slipped through his fingers and fell, shattering.

"Ah… I'm so sorry…"

His right hand came up to cover his eyes and he gritted his teeth.

'_This is so embarrassing. I'm so __**weak**__._'

"It's alright Allen-kun."

Lenalee moved off the bed to pick up the pieces of broken glass.

"H-Hello…?"

The small voice had come from the doorway.

Everyone looked up.

'_So familiar…'_

"Shouko-chan?"

"T-This is Allen-nii-chan's room right?"

The white-haired boy still had his hand over half of his face.

'_Crap._'

He bit down harder.

"Ah, yes it is."

"I-I brought back his violin…"

He couldn't see what was happening, but he sure as hell knew he didn't want to be seen bedridden and weak in front of the little girl.

"Ah, Onii-chan. Are you alright?" she asked, crawling onto the bed.

He finally took his hand off his face.

With a smile, he replied, his voice only slightly gruff, "Yeah. I'm fine."

It sounded too unconvincing. '_Damn hoarse throat._'

But he had the little girl fooled.

"I'm so happy Onii-chan is okay!" the little girl exclaimed. She beamed.

The smile he had plastered on was effectively masking his pain.

"How are you, Shouko-chan? Did you and your Mama get out safely?"

"Y-Yes! Mama got out safely with Shouko! Both of us are okay!"

Allen reached out and patted the girl's head.

"I'm glad to hear it."

The little girl was still beaming.

"It's all thanks to Onii-chan and Lenalee-nee-chan!"

Her violet eyes were sparkling.

"Aw, Yuu, we were forgotten."

The redhead feigned hurt.

Kanda simply put on an irritated expression and looked the other way.

"Stupid rabbit."

Kanda's gruff reply surprised Shouko and she ducked behind Allen's shoulder.

Lenalee decided to address the little girl and clear up her confusion.

"Shouko-chan, these two Onii-chans helped us."

"O-Oh…"

Face half hidden behind Allen's left shoulder, she stuttered, "T-Thank you, onii-chans."

Lavi laughed.

"Now, that's more like it."

"Lavi!"

"What?"

Shouko completely ignored the other conversation within the room and instead questioned Allen, a worried frown plaguing her expression.

She looked him up and down.

"What's wrong Shouko-chan?"

"Allen-nii-chan, are you okay? You have a lot of bandages on you…"

He smiled in the most reassuring way possible, giving the girl a thumbs-up.

"I'm fine, don't worry. They're just little scratches."

Shouko's innocent violet eyes blinked.

"Ohh…That's good. But it'd be better if Onii-chan was totally un-scratched or anything!"

With a pout, she leaned on his shoulder.

The hidden wound pulsed painfully under his skin.

He could feel it tearing.

It was hidden in the collared shirt, and was obviously invisible to the young girl.

Allen was struck with a painful jolt and he could almost feel the vicious inner nature of his left arm pulse in malicious want for blood.

He gritted his teeth.

His breathing halted entirely and he stilled, unmoving.

Lenalee noticed this action and immediately relayed it to Lavi.

She turned to the brown-haired girl.

Something _bad _was going to happen if she didn't do something about Shouko on Allen's shoulder _fast_.

Allen's right hand had curled into fist by that time. And his face was as white as a ghost's.

Lenalee could see the veins pressed against the pallid skin of the back of Allen's hand, and his knuckles had turned pale.

"Shouko-chan, I think it's time to go now. Visiting hours are almost over and your mother will be worried," she said.

"Oh."

The little girl hopped off the bed.

She skipped to the doorway before turning around to face Allen again.

Face still slightly ashen, he smiled and unfroze himself a little, giving a little wave, so as not to alarm the little girl.

She didn't notice his rigidity and smiled sheepishly.

"Get well soon, Onii-chan. Then we can play together! I'll come visit you every day until you're better!"

She waved before disappearing around the doorway.

The smile left Allen's face the instant Shouko disappeared from sight and the sound of his haggard breathing filled the uncomfortable silence.

Lenalee gazed at him worriedly.

"Are you really okay, Allen-kun?"

"Yeah… Just… a bit… breathless…" he replied in between gasps.

-

Lenalee sighed.

Allen had fallen into a serene, peaceful asleep after his dinner, and everyone had left for the night.

Komui had reluctantly agreed to her decision; she would spend the night with Allen until he was discharged the next day.

Lavi had discussed the topic of the _akuma_ Allen had mentioned and his memory loss with her and Kanda outside as the white-haired boy continued to wolf down his dinner under the supervision of the hospital nurses.

The red-head had said that Allen hadn't known anything about what he'd said or seen earlier, and even when Yuu'd threatened him, he had insisted he knew nothing and tried to explain when the spasm had interrupted their conversation.

_As if it was trying to prevent him from telling them._

A soft whisper in the silence jerked Lenalee out of her thoughts.

"_Mana_…"

Lenalee was confused.

Allen was talking in his sleep.

If she wasn't careful, he might just start bleeding from the eyes again.

The white-haired boy continued to whisper.

"_He's gone... All my fault…"_

Allen was mumbling in his sleep about a… dead person?

This thought branched out infinitely in Lenalee's mind as she wandered curiously on the topic of the boy's past, forgetting entirely the possibility of massive blood loss from Allen's eyes.

But she had other things to think about. Her curiosity won over.

He was just fifteen. How could he have wound up here all by himself?

Lenalee had never thought of that.

She knew well that Allen had a master who had taught him music.

What about before that, though? What life had the white-haired boy led as a child?

She didn't know.

And the fact that his hair was white intrigued her further.

Shock wasn't able to cause that drastic a change in physical appearance could it?

And that boy from so long ago…

The ebony-haired had meant to ask Allen about it earlier, but the topic had never risen in conversation, and in her hesitance to ask, she had totally forgotten about it.

But as she watched his chest rise and fall as she had done that boy from long ago, the uncanny resemblance they held resurfaced from the corners of her mind.

They both had profoundly snow-white hair, a deformed left arm, and it had been Cross Marian who had taken the little boy she could have treated as a younger brother for her at last.

The age fit well, for both the boy from back then and Allen that was here with her, sleeping soundly with the same steady rhythm she had seen in the boy's breathing long ago; both had been younger than her by a year.

And that scar.

The unforgettable, entirely unmistakeable mark that had been freshly cut in when she'd first seen it…

Maybe there were people with similar marks all over the world…?

What about those things though?

The akuma…

Lenalee shook the thoughts from her head. They were terribly troubling.

And they concerned Allen's past.

It was none of her business, worried though she was.

He wasn't obliged to tell her, even if she did ask.

The girl looked at the wall clock, and her mouth pulled into a frown.

It was already so late, and she should be getting to sleep.

There was a sofa in the corner.

And she left her brooding questions for the morning.

-

Silver-grey eyes opened to darkness.

'_So cold._'

4.00AM in the morning.

Allen sat up painfully.

His back was aching and his left arm was limp at his side.

Mana…

He'd dreamt about him again.

Dreamt about the mass of blood he'd seen when Mana had died.

"_Keep walking forward, and don't stop._"

The words echoed in his head, as other tiny voices spoke up.

"_There is nothing more important than your instrument._"

"_No matter what happens, you must never lose sight of your goals._"

"_You have to love your music more than __**food.**_"

The words bounced off the walls of his skull, and he felt his head splitting open.

He decided to try and think of something else.

His eye activated suddenly, squirming restlessly, out of control.

The bandages came off his forehead.

The blood streamed down his forehead, reaching his eyes, but he did not budge, did not blink.

He had been thrown into a horrendous _nightmare._

The walls turned red with blood, and the sheets lay stained at his feet.

He pulled his legs up and folded them in front of him, resting his chin on his knees.

He hid in a futile attempt at making everything disappear.

His heart rate quickened and he struggled to control the increasing rate of his pulse.

The hyperventilation would start otherwise and that would lead to an even quicker heart rate, triggering the machine that was tracking his heart condition; they wanted to keep him on safe alert, just in case something happened in the night.

He didn't want to wake Lenalee up.

The moment she came into his mind, an image of Lenalee's mangled body taunted him from the sofa, but in the silence of night, he could hear her quiet breathing.

Lavi and Kanda lay in a similar state in separate areas of the room, crushed and broken, their faces a mess of angry red burns and blood.

Thoughts of the '_akuma_' Lavi and Kanda were so uptight about clotted his mind in the stillness of the blood-stained nightmare.

He had definitely seen them.

He remembered it all now.

He had regained his memory of the event during the back-splitting spasm he had had earlier.

The monster had spoken to him.

Pleaded to him, shared with him its suffering.

And then he had become a mindless monster, slaughtering the poor creatures whose souls had cried.

But he knew he'd saved them. Now all that was left was to convince himself of the final resting place of the souls in heaven.

Dazed and disoriented by the red liquid that had materialised from his dreams, he looked up subconsciously.

Unknowingly, his gaze wandered around the room and settled on the sleeping form of the blood-showered ebony-haired girl in the corner.

He continued to throw his gaze around the room, searching the darkness for the violin case Shouko had brought in earlier.

His eyes settled, staring ahead in the obscurity of the most gruesome early morning he had ever dreamed of.

He stumbled out of bed, his arm limp at his side still.

He could taste his blood in his mouth.

The smell of iron and the taste of metal.

Sweet and delicious.

Allen was disgusted with himself.

He really _was_ a monster.

Every step caused the boy a stab of pain in each of his feet as he splashed and sloshed in a pool of ankle deep blood.

But finally, just when he had thought that he would never reach the precious instrument that had been loaned to him before he'd go utterly insane, his searching right hand grasped the fabric of the violin case.

Relief washed over him.

He felt like a blind man in the night shadows as he clutched the violin case with one hand and stuttered back to the bloodied bed, his other arm groping about in the darkness weakly.

With only his right hand, he carefully unzipped the violin case in the dim moonlight and flipped the cover over.

There was close to no light at all, and for that, he was grateful for.

A red velvet cloth covered the violin and finally, after lifting it as gently as he could with one hand, he brought his half-numbed left hand up and lifted the violin, the only object in sight that was not covered in the unsightly iron-smelling liquid, carefully out of the place.

The violin was as beautiful as when he had seen it for the first time at the old man's shop.

Perhaps more stunningly striking with the effect of illuminated moonlight.

Enchantment was an understatement.

A tear slipped down his cheek.

It fell with a plop on the polished russet brown body of the violin and Allen couldn't help but stare at it, gazing at it with gentle eyes.

He winched it up to his shoulder and rested his chin on the dark wood that was the chin-rest and drew the bow as the first light of day filtered in from behind the translucent hospital curtains.

-

Lenalee awoke to the sound of a gentle vibrato in the morning silence.

The gentle melody was angelic, weaving in and out, and she could feel light sunlight warming her face.

Her amethyst eyes finally opened, and the sun caught in them.

Immediately, they closed again, and the ebony-haired girl allowed them to adjust.

The peaceful melody began to fade, and Lenalee's head shot up in alarm, eyes snapping open.

She didn't want it to end yet.

-

The music enveloped him as he allowed his fingers to play across the strings, shifting up and down the fingerboard with each separate phrase of notes.

The bow whizzed up and down in perfect sequence as the music continued to engulf him gently, its soft melody wrapping him up in momentary bliss.

The other instruments in the orchestra had taken their places in his head and had begun to play themselves, the sounds merging with those of his own instrument, forming a melodious tune.

-

Her eyes wide and searching, she sat up, scanning the room.

At the far corner, Allen stood, the sunlight glinting off his silver hair.  
Lenalee could make out a violin rested between his chin and shoulder.

His hand had drawn the bow halfway down the strings as he stood unmoving, cemented into place, like a perfect statue carved by angels.

She figured he had been playing.

Lenalee realised what she had just thought and immediately blinked in puzzled amusement.

Then something caught the sunlight and the ebony-haired girl was pulled away from her thoughts.

Violin in his left hand, Allen turned around and faced her, shock evident on his face when he realized her presence.

"L-Lenalee!"

Immediately, the arm with the hand gripping the bow went to his eyes, and he brushed away the tears she had just barely glimpsed.

When he had removed his hand, a light blush had crept up his neck and to his cheeks.

"Y-You didn't see that."

Lenalee looked at him with a soft expression, her eyes gentle.

"No, I didn't."

Allen shuffled nervously.

"Did you compose it?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"What's it called?"

The boy scratched the back of his head with his right hand.

"M-Moonlit Smiles…"

Lenalee smiled.

"It's a beautiful piece."

Allen could only continue to blush furiously.

"Thanks."

It was just the cold.

Just the cold.

* * *

A/N: Okay. That's all. (: Yes, there's lots of blood because I love blood. (;  
And Moonlit Smiles is just a title I came up with. I have no idea if it actually exists. Thank you all who reviewed or left alerts or favourites~! I love you all~!


	7. Beat, Rhythm, Melody

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man. But I'm happy Hoshino Katsura-san is coming back in April! And that the English -Man will be out then as well. (:

Chapter 6: Beat, Rhythm, Melody.

A/N: Enjoy. (:

* * *

The ebony haired girl sighed in the darkness.

This was getting downright irritating.

She tossed and turned under the covers, struggling to find a comfortable position.

It had been a week since the incident in the tunnel.

And Lenalee had been exhausted entirely.

She gazed at the instrument case in the corner.

Each time she played her cello, those _akuma_ things popped up out of no-where.

It was as if they were stalking her.

She wandered briefly if Allen were experiencing the same thing; everyday, after he got back from his part-time job at the café adjacent to the apartment, he seemed tired and worn out, and was so tired he was asleep the moment he landed himself of the sofa. He always missed dinner.

And what's worse, the boy was screaming more every night. And the blood loss always came with it.

Lenalee had had to wake him up several times during the week to get him to calm down, and she had stopped using earplugs every night just in case. She always had a towel ready too.

"I'm so sorry, Lenalee… This is stupid…" he'd said last night, holding the towel him to his bleeding eye sockets.

And she'd heard him mutter something like "worthless, pathetic and weak" under his breath.

She'd advised him to see a doctor about the screaming, bleeding and nightmares, but he'd blatantly refused, saying he had no money for it nor would he borrow any from her.

He had obviously hinted at his lack in finance, and had stressed again his need for the money he earned at the café and she knew he didn't mean to offend her. He just didn't want any debts.

But there was of course his pride to consider, and besides, he couldn't afford to borrow money from anyone at current.

Huh.

Friends were supposed to help each other right?

Why didn't he let her help him with this?

Lenalee could tell Allen was falling sick.

Before anything bad happened, he _should_ go to the doctor.

And he would tomorrow.

He had a day off.

She would drag him to the clinic if the need arose, she decided.

A loud coughing noise erupted from outside. A scream echoed throughout the house.

Lenalee pulled the covers over her face.

She wasn't going to get any sleep tonight either…

But suddenly, as if to counter her thoughts, the screaming stopped abruptly, just as she had pulled the covers off her legs.

Lenalee, shocked, scrambled off her bed and rushed to the living room. She thought she had heard another softer sound, something she couldn't quite place. Allen couldn't have simply stopped for no apparent reason either after all.

-

He tried, but failed to comprehend miserably.

He couldn't see.

Couldn't hear.

Couldn't make a sound.

Couldn't feel.

It was too bright.

What was going on?

There wasn't even pain in the sudden quiet calm.

He remembered his dream.

He had been walking in pitch black darkness before a hideous creature had stood in his path, appearing out of no-where.

It had screamed at him.

Or at least its soul had.

"_Help me! Help me!_" it shrieked.

The silence had screamed in his ears, and he could feel them bleeding.

His head had felt like it was on the verge of splitting open when the nightmare stopped.

_Just like __**that**_.

The boy had no idea what had happened.

Suddenly, the sight of red behind his eyelids faded, replaced with a shadow.

He opened his eyes to a world of polished white buildings.

And in the distance, at the capital of what looked like a city, he heard the sound of a piano.

-

"Allen-kun, Allen-kun, are you alright?" Lenalee whispered.

She shook his shoulders lightly, tapping him on the arm.

His face was peaceful and tranquil and he looked like he was among the dead, resting in the depths of heaven _somewhere_.

This was what worried the ebony-haired girl.

She had heard of people dying in their sleep.

She sincerely prayed, begged, pleaded, that this was not one of those times.

-

"_Allen-kun, Allen-kun, are you alright?"_

He could hear Lenalee's voice from behind him, feeling a light tap on his arm, and spun around.

But there wasn't anyone there.

He smiled at her worrisome tone nonetheless.

"Yes, I am, just wait for me," he whispered.

He faced round to the direction of the sound, his heart set to find the source of the beautiful music.

-

She could have sworn she'd heard him whisper.

She could have sworn she'd heard him say he was alright. And to wait for him.

She would always trust her friends.

Lenalee grasped Allen's gloved left hand.

She didn't understand why he even wore gloves to sleep.

She pulled off the worn white gloves and held his hand in her own, facing the palm to her cheek.

She could hear his shallow breathing, see his chest rise and fall in a regular rhythm, feel the pulse in his wrist.

The sixteen year-old grasped the boy's hand tighter, praying silently.

"Please be okay…"

And she kissed the glowing green cross embedded into the back of his hand tenderly.

-

Allen opened door after door in the strange building.

The music had no source, and it felt as though the piano sounds echoed through the walls themselves. It had no origin.

Then a door appeared before him, obstructing his train of thought.

Allen was surprised and astounded. How could a _door_ appear out of thin air?

He shrugged and entered, regardless.

The song had finished as his eyes wandered around the room, staring at the gigantic white piano with its black and white keys.

The colours were inverted.

At the chair sat a man in a long coat, the tails of his spotless white tuxedo touching the floor.

Allen approached the suspicious looking stranger cautiously.

"_The old man._"

The white-haired boy blinked.

Had this profoundly dressed stranger just addressed him?

"_You must see the old man._"

The stranger turned to him.

Allen saw that he had no face.

Or at least, it was something you couldn't call a human face.

It was abnormal in an inhuman way, a huge, unrealistic grin spread across his face, and eyes that were hollow.

Someone could get lost in there if they stared for too long.

"_The old man will explain_," he said, turning to the piano once more as his gloved fingers fluttered over the strange keys, lightly touching them.

"_He will teach you_."

That said, the stranger vanished with a last glance.

It was two whole seconds before Allen reacted, confusion having stifled his reaction.

"W-Wait! What do you mean? What old man?"

But his questions were not to be answered.

-

Allen's grey eyes opened slowly.

He could see the traces of light orange outside beyond the glass window at the far end of the room.

His hand was warm, and there was a blanket draped over his lower half, past the leg that hung off the arm of the sofa.

He turned slowly to face Lenalee, his neck stiff, the wounds on his shoulders, arms and back stinging.

She was holding his hand tightly in her own, leaning against the couch asleep.

He could smell the shampoo she used on her hair…

He shifted tiredly, his hand still in Lenalee's embrace and came instead to sit down next to her in a more comfortable position.

He stared at the ceiling, leaning his head back against the sofa.

-

"Have a nice day!"

Allen waved as two young ladies sauntered out the door, smiling shyly at him.

Too bad the poor boy was too dense to realise this.

He exhaled, tired.

He'd been playing for five hours straight _at least_.

He glanced towards the corner where Lenalee and Komui sat, sipping coffee quietly.

They seemed to be deep in conversation.

"Boy, it's time for your break."

Mr Bentley handed Allen a cup of coffee, and Allen sipped it gratefully.

"Thanks."

He set the borrowed violin down on the table carefully and continued to gaze at the siblings talking in the corner.

-

"But Lenalee, you were sleeping with him, my dear, dear Lenalee!" wailed Komui.

Some of the other customers turned in their seats to stare with goggled eyes.

Lenalee squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, embarrassed.

"Nii-san! Keep it down!" she whispered.

She looked down at her steaming cup of coffee.

"And I've told you already. That was because he was screaming again!" she whispered furiously.

She drew her fingers together, staring at them intently.

"Besides, it was on the floor by the couch not _on_ the couch," she mumbled.

And her brother's paranoia was not the only thing fuelling her irritation.

Allen had decided against his day off and insisted he went to work at the café. What's more, he had made Mr Bentley promise to let him work his butt off without days off.

How was she going to drag him to the doctor now?

It was so frustrating, especially since he had seemed so terribly against going to the doctor.

Was he hiding something from her?

She grasped the handle of the mug irritably and raised it to her lips, letting the steam warm her cheeks, calming her.

She had more important things to think about right now.

"Anyway, Nii-san, there are more important things I need to discuss with you."

Her brother raised his own mug, sipping from it slowly.

"I know," he said, his voice sober, "Allen Walker. He bears an uncanny resemblance to that boy from six years ago."

Lenalee nodded anxiously.

"Do you think it's him?"

Komui sipped his coffee leisurely once more.

"It is."

Lenalee was shocked at this statement. Astonishment was clear in her expression.

Her brother sounded so sure.

"How do you know? How can you tell for sure?"

Her brother did not hesitate in his answer and spoke the moment the words were all out of her mouth.

"The violin, the scar, the pentacle. Doesn't it make sense?"

The girl didn't know to be happy, sad, disappointed or angry.

Happy that it was the boy and that he had lived in spite of Cross Marian's perilous treatment.

Sad that the boy had suffered all those years ago.

Disappointed that he didn't recognise her.

Angry that he hadn't acknowledged knowing her.

"But still, Nii-san. You can't be sure."

Komui blinked and started rummaging through his coat pockets.

"Where did I put it…?"

"Put what, Nii-san?" Lenalee queried, the worry in her voice evident.

"Ah, here it is."

Komui pulled a rather fat brown envelope from his right front pocket.

Lenalee barely managed the catch the words scrawled on the front.

_Komui Lee_.

Her brother fished out the weathered piece of parchment from within the large envelope.

"_Komui_,

_I'm sending you my idiot apprentice. He should prove useful. _

_Tim should be proof enough._

_Here's a picture, and a couple of official documents, the boy's passport, birth cert, blah, blah, blah._

_But you already know who he is._

_Cross._"

The ebony-haired girl blinked several times.

"Oh."

Then a sentence in the letter drew her attention.

'_But you already know who he is.'_

"Nii-san, what does that last sentence mean?"

Her older brother did not intend on being rude.

He simply did not want to hurt her feelings.

Ignoring his sister, Komui continued to pull documents out of the envelope, first the same hand drawn picture used for the debt transference, then other documents such as certificates as evidence of his experience in concerts and competitions.

He left the birth certificate, passport and health booklet inside the envelope.

Lenalee frowned at her brother, upset at his ignorance of her question.

"Nii-san. Tell me what it means."

When her brother turned to her, she caught the serious look in his eyes, the hint of utmost urgency in the tone of his voice.

"Don't ask Allen anything about his past."

Again, Lenalee frowned.

She stared at the wide variety of certificates, varying in both country and type, attempting to distract herself.

Concentrating harder, she made a mental note of what awards Allen had won.

There was a baroque music competition in Italy, a classical music concert in London… The list went on.

And none of the certificates was one for neither bronze nor constellation.

All were _Gold_ and _Silver_.

The majority of the certificates were gold, and those from the year Allen had been twelve onwards were _all _gold.

The certificates were signed by the guests of honour, and some of the names were those of famous musicians Lenalee recognized.

"Whoa…"

Komui nodded.

"Yup. Whoa."

Apparently, the tension between brother and sister had vanished.

"How could someone win this many competitions with either first or second place?"

The ebony-haired girl's gaze wandered over the various certificates.

Her eyes scanned each signature, making sure they were all genuine.

And on each and every certificate, there remained a constant factor.

His name.

_Allen Walker._

…

_Allen Walker._

…

_Allen Walker…_

The name continued to appear on each and every certificate.

After a while, Komui began packing away the certificates and documents.

"So you knew he was coming?"

"Not exactly…"

Lenalee raised an eyebrow.

"I just found this letter on my table yesterday. Reever said he found it amongst the several unsigned documents in my office."

Lenalee's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh."

"We still need to audition him."

"Mmhmn."

"Bring him round to the faculty tomorrow. The entrance exams this year come in five days."

Suddenly Komui seemed to remember something important.

"That reminds me! How has practice been coming along?"

Lenalee groaned.

She had hoped her brother wouldn't remember.

Now there would be even more practising to do.

-

"Thanks a lot Mr Bentley! I'll be sure to come the day after tomorrow!"

Allen heaved a sigh of relief.

Mr Bentley had agreed to give him a day off.

Besides, he only had one day left to repay Mr Bentley.

The customers had come in fast and business booming.

The profits collected had rocketed to the skies.

Now only one day of this job till he was done with the debt.

He stepped into an alley, a short cut to the riverside.

Maybe _they_ wouldn't seek him out here…

"Allen-kun!"

Lenalee's voice called him out of his thoughts.

He slowed to a slow stroll, waiting for the sixteen year-old girl to catch up.

She ran up to him, out of breath.

"You needn't have run you know, Lenalee."

He smiled at her.

"Yeah, well… I need to tell you something important. And besides, we're heading in the same direction. I don't usually see you or go back to the apartment with you, and you always fall asleep the moment you touch the couch!"

Allen couldn't understand how, between pants, Lenalee had been able to say that mouthful of words in one breath.

Just as he was about to ask what it was she had so urgently needed to tell him, she spoke again, suddenly changing the topic.

"Why are you so tired everyday anyway?"

Allen was about to answer when he remembered the real reason why he was so tired everyday.

He decided he should inform Lenalee. _Those things_ might have been stalking her just the same.

She had been involved in the fight the other time as well, hadn't she?

"Well, you see…"

Speak of the devil.

The fifteen year-old boy felt a pulse in his left shoulder and his eye throbbed.

Then it activated, his silver irises changing to the colour of blood and darkness as one.

"Lenalee!

The white haired boy jumped out of the way, pulling Lenalee away by the shoulders.

She gasped at the sudden movement.

"The _akuma_!" she gasped.

Allen stared at her, as they waited for the dust to clear.

"Have these things been chasing you down everyday too?"

Still staring into the dust cloud, Lenalee nodded determinedly.

"And every single time, my shoes evolve into these strange boots and I can fly, just like the other time. And if I want to escape, I have to destroy all those creatures."

"Yeah, it's the same here."

Now she turned to look at Allen.

"Allen-kun, what's up with your eye? It's bleeding again."

Allen looked at her, astonished.

"O-Oh, it's nothing."

He looked straight ahead.

"It's always like that when this happens. When the akuma appear."

"But-"

Their conversation was cut off.

Another explosion resounded in the darkness of the alley as finally, the dust clouds settled.

Everything was silent.

Lenalee heard Allen whisper her name, and she strained her ears to listen.

"When you hear my signal, jump straight up."

She nodded slowly, careful not to make any small sudden movements.

The silence screamed in his ears, and he looked as if he would just about go insane.

But Lenalee did not hear it. She couldn't.

His eye pulsed, the scar distorted, burning into his skin.

He felt the killing intent tear through his shoulder.

Then he saw it.

"_NOW!_"

Lenalee leapt up in one swift movement as the large metallic arm tore through his flesh, blood splashing over his face.

In a split second, Lenalee was back down slamming down hard on the large metal monster and it let out another blood curdling scream, nearly capable of splitting Allen's head in two.

But there was no time for pain.

The white-haired boy sensed another movement from behind, just ducking as a torpedo-sized bullet flew through the air right where his head had been.

Lenalee let out a frightened gasp from high up above as Allen felt a second bullet puncturing his shoulder, the third landing in his left shin; he hadn't been fast enough.

He glanced up at Lenalee. This had happened before, many times in the past two weeks.

But she didn't know what would happen next and abandoned her fight, reaching for Allen, just as his skin went ash grey and star pentacles printed themselves on his skin. He stilled.

The akuma seized the opportunity easily, recovering from the girl's first attack, raining bullets in her direction in turn.

"_Lenalee! Behind you!_"

She let out a frightened gasp as the missile flew in her direction.

She could not react.

Allen was behind her in an instant and there was the sound of metal against metal as the _akuma_ bullets ricocheted off the monstrous silver-plated left arm.

"Thanks," she gasped, out of breath, "Are you alright?"

"No problem, and," he turned to face her, smile carved into his pained expression, "I'm fine."

Then the shadow disappeared.

And Lenalee couldn't help but feel disgusted, upset, with that out-of-place smile.

Such gestures of happiness did not belong on pain-stricken faces.

-

"Ow!" the white haired boy flinched as the cold wet cotton was touched to his skin, "That hurts you know!"

"Just hold still."

She pressed it to his raw flesh again.

"Ow!"

Allen continued his rally of little starts from the immense stinging the antiseptic liquid inflicted on his skin as Lenalee dabbed his several wounds with the little cotton balls.

There were several puncture wounds on his skin, though seemingly, none of his vital organs had been affected.

The whole of his back was covered in burn marks which were not so serious, much to the girl's relief, and there were several spots that had begun scabbing over.

There were even some large scrapes along his shins, but she'd have to go out for more bandages for those later.

Then her gaze wandered over the recent puncture wound from the Akuma attack earlier.

She observed it, the world stilling around her, as Allen continued to start slightly each time she dabbed at it with the antiseptic-soaked cotton ball.

Comparing it to the other wounds, she could tell that they had been badly dressed. If Allen had even bothered to dress his wounds at all.

Lenalee was astonished, and her eyebrows slanted downwards, confused.

"How did you manage to hide all these wounds from me, let alone bear them? Did you even bandage them at all?"

Allen snorted.

"Yes, I did. I shall have you know that I learned some First Aid while I was the ward of my incompetent master."

The ebony-haired girl could not help but laugh at this statement.

There was an unexpected knock on the door and before Lenalee could answer Lavi sauntered into the room, Kanda following suit, a scowl on his face. As usual.

"Lavi? Kanda? What are you doing here?" Lenalee asked, puzzled.

Allen's face, too, was a picture of surprise.

Lavi cocked his head to the side, arms folded behind his head.

"Komui told us to gather here. And what are you doing here?"

He nodded towards Allen, who was still seated unmoving on the green couch in the corner.

But before the white-haired boy could answer, Lenalee spoke on his behalf.

"He happens to live here at the moment."

"Then what is he doing without his shirt on? What's more," he raised an eyebrow, "what are _you_ doing with _him_ without his shirt on? What will Komui _think_?"

Lenalee flushed a dark scarlet.

Allen continued to stare in bewilderment at the situation unfolding before him.

Kanda's scowl grew fierce.

He hated people who stated the obvious.

Or tried to make fun of the truth.

Maybe they weren't even sensible enough to _know_ the truth.

"Idiot rabbit, can't you see she's dressing his wounds? Che. You really are an idiot," he spat.

"Aww, Yuu's so mean. I was just trying to point out that Komui might get the wrong idea!" the redhead whined, feigning hurt, "And what do _you_ care anyway Yuu? Defending him, eh? Ohoho."

"Don't call me by my first name dammit! Or I'll slice you to ribbons!"

He held up his katana, Mugen, to the redhead's throat menacingly.

Lavi put his hands up in front of him nervously.

"And I wasn't defending him! I'm not _gay._ I'm _**damn fucking straight **_mind you_. _I just hate people who state the obvious. Idiots like _you._"

"Aw, Yui-bear's upset."

"What the _fuck_ did you just call me?!"

Lenalee sighed.

"Those two still bicker like an old couple…"

She turned to the white-haired boy.

"Allen-kun, just wait a sec. I'll go make us some tea and come back to finish bandaging your wounds. Air them a bit. I'm already done with applying the antiseptic. So just wait a bit okay?"

He smiled and the 16-year-old's heart skipped a beat.

"Okay."

-

Allen stared at the 29-year-old man in front of them, sipping coffee from the previously repaired pink bunny mug.

He was wearing bunny slippers as well.

And then there was the tired-looking man in a lab coat who sat beside him, furiously scribbling notes as Komui began to speak.

"Well, from what I have gathered from my sweet Lenalee's daily report, she has encountered the creatures unconsciously proclaimed by Allen," he nodded to said fifteen-year-old, "to be '_akuma_', daily since the train incident."

The man pushed his half-moon glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"I have gathered you all here today because you were all involved in the train incident with my Lenalee."

The four teenagers nodded.

"So, my first question to you all: Have you encountered any of these '_akuma_' anytime during the time between after the train incident and today?"

Komui stared them down, looking just over the top of his rimless glasses.

"Allen?"

"I have."

"How often?"

Allen bit his lip.

"Everyday. After work."

"How many at once?"

"At least four or five."

He saw Lenalee's eyes widen and turn to look at him in disbelief from his peripherals.

Komui nodded, acknowledging his newly acquired information.

"Lavi?"

"Similar to the bean sprout; everyday at around sunset when I go out to buy dinner for me and gramps. Around three at once, mostly."

"Kanda?"

The samurai's deep blue eyes flashed.

"The same as the stupid rabbit."

"Lenalee?"

"Three to four a day, everyday."

The raven haired man nodded.

"So the average is about three or four a day."

He turned to face the brown haired man sitting next to him.

"Did you jot all of that down, Section Chief Reever?"

The Australian nodded.

"Thank you."

Komui sipped his coffee once more.

"Alright. You may leave. If you see anything similar to these _akuma_, do inform my Lenalee. It's very important."

Lavi and Kanda nodded, stood up.

"Bye Lena-chan, Moyashi."

"My name is Allen," the boy muttered.

The redhead only smiled and made for the door.

"Oh wait, one last thing."

They turned around to face the schizophrenic supervisor.

"The music faculty entrance exams are next week. Make sure you work hard. The judges will be tough this year."

Lavi's eyes goggled. However, the samurai simply scowled.

"And, there will be good competition this year."

He eyed Allen from the corner of his eyes.

"Either way, I'll call you again when I've done the analysis and need you to come over."

* * *

A/N: Hello. I'm surprised you've made it this far, but yeah. (:

Sorry for the really late update. I kinda went on holiday for a week. so here's the update for last week. I'll get the next chapter out in a couple of days. (: thanks for waiting, if you did. ahhaha.


	8. The Instruments

The Devil's Symphony

Disclaimer: I'm so happy D. Gray -Man is back! Unfortunately, it doesn't belong to me. And thank goodness for that. Otherwise, it would suck.

Chapter 7: The Instruments

A/N: Enjoy. *raises a cup of wine to you, then sips it.*

* * *

He had never planned on it, but his body moved on his own.

After their meeting the previous afternoon, Allen had been contemplating whether or not he should bring up his dream.

Lenalee had noticed his sudden anxiety as these thoughts ran through his mind. All the while they had sat around the fireplace and watched television. But he hadn't taken a sip of his hot chocolate once and had been silent throughout the whole two hours they had been seated in place, watching _Mission Impossible III_.

And just as she thought this, Allen spoke up.

"Komui-san," he began, "There is something important I need to tell you."

The older man's eyes flickered away from the TV to catch the look on Allen's face briefly.

"Yes, Allen?"

Lenalee watched silently, her eyes following the two men's movements carefully.

Allen suddenly looked sheepish to have wanted to tell Komui what he had been thinking.

"I-"

He stopped short, recomposing himself.

He gulped, and then started again.

"I had this dream…"

Lenalee withheld her shock from her expression ad sipped her hot chocolate.

She hadn't anticipated this.

She hadn't thought that Allen, who disclosed his dreams not even to her, would easily reveal them to her brother.

"Go on."

Amethyst eyes followed Allen's Adam's apple as he gulped.

"There was a city."

He took a breath, perspiration already forming in little droplets on his forehead.

"It was completely whitewashed, entirely bare and empty of inhabitants."

This time, he looked Komui in the eyes, seemingly more confident of reconciling the whole matter.

"And in the middle of this city, there was a large building. And probably the biggest building there."

Komui raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Allen closed his eyes, his brow furrowing as he recalled the events in his dream.

"Piano. The sound of a piano being played came from the building. I went in search of the piano and its player.

"And I found him after a while. A peculiar man, dressed profoundly in a tuxedo of a style I've never seen before."

He leaned back against the couch, staring at the ceiling.

"He told me that I must see '_the old man'._"

Lenalee considered this.

What old man?

"He said that the 'old man' would explain. That he would teach me."

Komui sipped his coffee.

Looking up at Allen, he asked, "And have you any idea who this '_old man_' is?"

The boy turned, shook his head.

"Hmm."

Then, there was silence.

-

"What the _hell_ did we get called back here again for? You're wasting my precious practice time!"

Kanda had the usual scowl on his face, a look of sheer irritation, as he set his violin case down.

"Oh, come on Yuu! Lighten up!"

Lavi steadied his own instrument carefully with trained hands, leaning it on his left thigh, left hand still clutching the neck.

"_How many times have I told you not to call me that, you imbecilic asshole of a rabbit?!_"

Lenalee sighed, and Allen sweat-dropped.

Komui sipped his coffee.

"Well…"

Komui lowered his mug, cupping his chin thoughtfully.

"Allen-kun here had a dream."

This the two eighteen-year-olds had _not_ expected.

At all.

Even Lavi couldn't hide his disbelief.

His jaw dropped open in surprise.

"_What did you say_?"

The samurai's voice was low, dangerous, his eyes overshadowed.

Allen had to stop himself from cringing away from the murderous glare.

"I said Allen-kun here had a dream," Komui reiterated, using the suffix Lenalee had given the white-haired boy.

Kanda was fuming now, silently, but definitely fuming.

His hand trembled, hovering lightly over the hilt of his katana.

"So let me get this straight."

He looked Komui straight in the eyes.

"You called us over because this _stupid bean sprout_ had a _dream_?"

Komui nodded happily, not sensing the tense atmosphere in the room.

And then Kanda snapped.

"YOU'RE WASTING MY PRECIOUS PRACTICE TIME, DAMMIT!" he bellowed, and Lavi could almost imagine the steam rising from his ears.

"Well, see…"

Komui's eyes flashed.

He was being rather patient.

(With not starting to act like the most immature adult on the face of the earth.)

"This dream he had, in my opinion, has something to do with the akuma situation."

Allen looked up at the twenty-nine year-old in surprise.

"But there was no mention of the akuma in the dream," he pointed out.

"No," Komui began, "there wasn't."

Lenalee instantly knew what would happen next.

"But I have a _hunch_."

Lenalee smacked her forehead with her palm.

Allen could do nothing but blink in speechless astonishment.

But Lavi, he was busy trying to contain his amusement. Because Kanda Yu's face…

"You have a _hunch_?"

…was just too funny.

The samurai was trembling with rage.

But he didn't snap.

Thankfully.

Or not.

Mugen was unsheathed in a flash, the tip pointing distinctly at Komui's neck.

"Yes, I do."

Komui smiled again and sipped his coffee once more in spite of the circumstances.

He utterly ignored the sharp edge of the sword that was pointed at his windpipe, and began to speak.

"See, Allen says in his dream…"

He proceeded to elucidate the boy's dream, ignoring the glares he received from Kanda, whom had given up and sheathed Mugen.

"So now I'd like to ask you what kind of inferences you can make."

Kanda leaned back against the couch.

"It's just a stupid dream. What kind of dumb inferences can you make?"

Lavi's emerald eye flashed with amusement.

"Well, Yuu, you see, maybe Komui was trying to make a reference to music."

Lenalee perked up at this idea.

'_If Lavi is referring to music, then maybe…'_

Her eyes widened at the thought.

She could see where both Lavi and her brother were going.

"The piano here suggests something don't you think?"

The redhead cast his gaze on the ceiling, cupping his chin thoughtfully.

"Think about it. It's probably with reference to _music_."

But Kanda was still in his raging denial, irritated.

"Baka usagi. That doesn't prove anything. Like I said, it's a _dream_."

"Aha, that is where you are wrong Yuu. Let me explain."

Kanda twitched, annoyed, as Lavi carelessly used his first name.

"Allen-chan, how many old men do you know?"

The white-haired boy blinked.

How many old men did he know?

"Uh… Age range?"

Lavi's emerald eye twinkled in amusement.

"Any person you might consider elderly."

Allen raised an eyebrow questioningly, but said nothing.

"Hm."

He thought for a moment.

"One, I think."

Suddenly his eyes widened in realisation.

"OH!"

The Bookman apprentice smiled.

"Understand now?"

"You mean…"

"Yep. I think the mysterious person from your dream was trying to tell you to meet whoever this old man you know is."

Komui nodded in approval.

"Good analysis, Lavi, as expected of you, a Bookman apprentice."

The boy smiled faintly at the compliment as Komui's eyes cast a fleeting look at him from the corner of his eyes.

"But there is something you missed out."

The eighteen-year-old smirked.

"I always leave the best parts for you, Komui-san. You know that."

The bespectacled man proceeded then to question Allen as Lavi had.

"Allen-kun, who is this old man you know?"

He did not hesitate to answer, and by this time, even Kanda had become engrossed in the whole transgression of the conversation.

"That would be Mr Tikano down at the music shop '_The Devil's Symphony'._"

Again, Komui nodded, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Lenalee, Allen. Would you kindly fetch your instruments?"

Allen rubbed the nape of his neck.

"Both?"

Komui nodded, smiling.

"Kanda-kun, I'd like to see your violin as well."

Said eighteen-year-old "Che"-ed at the suffix Komui had given him, slightly irritated.

Allen and Lenalee returned with their respective instruments.

They sat around the coffee table.

"Alright. Let's first look at Kanda-kun's violin. Kanda-kun, if you would please read the label inside your violin?"

The samurai raised an eyebrow but went with Komui's request nonetheless.

He swiftly unbuckled the violin from the case, and slid his fingers in between the openings, gently lifting out the delicate instrument. He set it down on his lap gingerly.

It was the darkest ebony Allen had ever seen.

Had he not seen it up close, he would have mistaken it to be a black coloured violin.

What's more, the strings were undoubtedly _pure gold_.

It was probably one of the most mystical things Lenalee had ever seen in her lifetime; a violin that looked as though it had been crafted by the angels and God's hands themselves.

And the sound was so heartbreakingly striking, beautiful. Like nothing else she had ever heard before.

It sang so painfully, as though poisoned by the devil.

But the beauty did not show only in the violin and its voice.

Lenalee had seen Kanda play many times before, sometimes having performed along with him on her cello.

The magnificent, magical way his hands wove the music was almost too perfect; everything was in perfect position, right elbow stilled, his wrist easily manoeuvring the bow over the strings.

It was the only time the samurai's face relaxed into the tranquil melodies.

The sixteen-year-old had seen this instrument one too many times, but her mind had not been able to process its brilliance and perfect structure. She didn't think she would in the coming future either.

But she hadn't seen _Allen's _violin.

The white-haired boy gaped in awe as Kanda peered through the sound holes, not even straining his eyes to read the label inside.

(A/N: Okay, bad time for an Author's note, but I need to tell you guys: The labels inside their instruments are actually in Latin(or Italian, I don't know). They can read them though. I don't know how. They just can. xD)

"_Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1706. _And some other weird writing in Latin/Italian I can't read."

The twenty-nine year-old nodded and then asked yet another question.

"Where did you get your violin?"

Kanda stared at him incredulously.

"It was handed down from the earlier generations of my family, supposedly first bought from a famous violin maker of the North-east areas. Somewhere in Europe. That was a hundred years ago or so," he answered, albeit monotonously.

"It's a genuine Stradivarius violin, isn't it? Not a _copy_?"

Kanda stared at him as though he were stupid.

"Considering the label, _obviously_ it's a genuine Strad," he stated, emphasising on the word 'obviously', "And since _you _were the one who certified it, you should know I've had it checked and certified as _genuine_."

Komui remained ignorant towards the samurai's sarcasm.

"Alright. Let's look at my precious Lenalee's viola next."

He turned to face his sister.

"So, what does the label say in your instrument?"

Lenalee peered into the body of her viola through the sound holes.

Lenalee's viola was a beautiful dark colour, just like Kanda's violin; a lovely ebony woodwork with golden strings.

It had a beautiful sound that stood in medium contrast to Kanda's violin; a slightly lower, mellower sound that sent waves of peaceful tranquillity through the air, sounding like a slightly lower-key version of a choir of angels.

"_Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1718. _And, like Kanda's, there's some weird Latin/Italian I can't read___.__"_

Komui smiled proudly.

"Never mind those weird writings; it's obviously a genuine Stradivarius instrument. Origin?"

Lenalee sighed at her brother's childish demeanour.

"Our mother and father left this behind for me. They said that their ancestors bought it from an Italian string instrument maker in Cremona, Italy."

Allen caught Lenalee cringing from the corner of his eyes.

Komui, however, did not falter at the mention of their parents.

"And Lavi, what does your cello label say?"

The upper part of Lavi's cello was a sweet honey maple colour that made one think of summer warmth in the sunshine. It gave off a warm fiery feeling.

The corpus of the cello was much wider and bigger than that of a violin or viola, an orange colour aflame on the wood, spreading out wider from the middle.

Practically glowing, it was a sight to behold.

Ironically, Lenalee was convinced that she had never heard a more bereaved sound.

"Same as theirs. Just a different date. _Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1717_. Complete with weird writin'."

"Again, a genuine Stradivarius instrument. Origin?"

Just then Kanda decided to speak up, twitching.

"Che, Komui. You biased bastard," he muttered, irritation showing clearly on his face.

The man smiled earnestly.

"Why, thank you Kanda-kun."

The samurai twitched irritably at the suffix given to his name.

Lavi sweat-dropped uneasily.

"Panda bought it from 'The Devil's Symphony' when we first arrived in this town."

Allen was slightly awed.

They all owned a genuine Antonio Stradivari historically famous instrument each.

Finally, the twenty-nine year-old turned to Allen, a more serious look in his eyes.

"And yours Allen?"

Said fifteen year-old bit his lip.

His master had told him not to show the white violin to people.

"W-Which one?"

"Both, please. Starting with the one you borrowed from Mr Tikano's shop."

Allen looked over the russet coloured violin cautiously before peeking into the sound holes, spotting the same Latin writings all over the label.

It said the same thing as all the others.

"_Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1720_," he recited, perfect intonation in his words.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes.

"It also says _Chevalier_. What does that mean, Komui-san?"

Komui waved it off.

"I'll explain later."

Silence ensued.

Then Lavi chose to break the silence.

"Whoa. 289 years-old. That's the youngest of all the instruments here," the redhead commented enthusiastically, appalled.

Supposedly.

Komui's eyes shifted between the occupants of the room.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

He looked at the white-haired boy over the rim of his glasses.

"You don't happen to know its origins do you?"

"Well…" the boy began, "According to Mr Tikano, it was something his ancestors or great grandfathers made."

He tapped a finger against his chin.

"But that would mean that Mr Tikano is a relative of the Stradivaris."

The redhead nodded.

"A helluva distant relative."

"Alright. What about the other violin?"

Allen scratched the back of his head.

"Master Cross told me not to show anyone…"

He looked up at Komui, looking him in the eye intensely.

"Then again, you've already seen it haven't you?"

Lenalee's eyes widened at the fifteen year-old's words, slightly surprised he would bring it up.

Lavi sensed the sudden tense atmosphere, and sat up from his slouch.

Something was going on, but he couldn't tell just what it was.

Whatever it was though, he figured he would know eventually.

"We'll talk about it later," Komui replied simply, waving it off easily a second time.

Allen nodded, and plastered a smile on his face.

But Lenalee could tell he was nervous.

Unbuckling his black violin case this time, he revealed a carefully sustained violin, covered by soft satin cloth.

-

Red eyes flickered open in the darkness, staring at nothing in particular.

The old man sat up, his grey hair turning the darkest shade of black.

And suddenly, he wasn't old anymore.

His hands grew slender, and the lines on his weathered face dissolved, leaving a perfectly young face.

He smirked.

"They've finally begun. Now all I have to do is wait for them to come here…"

-

They marvelled at it, and for a long time, no one uttered a word.

Solid white, perfectly polished and sustained.

It was similar to Kanda's, with only a slight difference in the corpus shape, barely noticeable.

Perfect craftsmanship, spotless, and perfectly tuned. The only thing left out was the gold strings. Allen's were catgut, a special kind of catgut.

But they were pretty sure the sound it would produce would be more than godly.

And Lenalee had not even heard what it sounded like before.

She would be impressed, surprised and most certainly awed.

Allen's talent was amplified through this pure marble white violin.

"Alright…"

Komui regained his self-possession, pushing the rimless glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"W-What does it say on the label?"

It took Allen a minute to answer.

He was a little… overwhelmed by the response his friends had come up with when he had revealed the violin to them.

"It says: _Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1714_."

"Anything else?"

Allen squinted, spotting a small scrawl of Latin words at the bottom of the label.

"I… can't read it, but there's a small bunch of words at the bottom in old Latin."

Komui nodded in acknowledgement.

"Origin?"

Allen hung his head: I don't want to talk about it.

Komui received the gesture rather awkwardly.

He scratched his cheek nervously.

"O-Okay,then."

Komui cleared his throat.

"So… seeing as all of you can't read the Latin inscriptions at the bottom of the labels, the only inference we can make about your instruments is that they are all Stradivarius instruments, made during Antonio Stradivari's 'Golden Age'."

Again, he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Tomorrow, I want all of you to meet at the café in adjacent to the Devil's Symphony at 9am. We will have breakfast- my treat – and then head over to Mr Tikano's shop. Clear?"

All four teenagers nodded.

"Dismissed."

Kanda and Lavi made their way to the door.

Allen was heading off in the direction of his room when Lenalee tapped his shoulder.

"Allen-kun, could you hold on a sec?"

She turned to her brother.

"Nii-san, when dinner's ready, I'll ring Reever-san to inform you that it's ready, and that he can join us for dinner."

The older man said nothing, nodding his head with a toothy smile; he was yawning at the same time.

Lenalee smiled, then turned to Allen.

"Allen-kun, could you help me with dinner?"

The white-haired boy smiled.

"Sure."

-

"Mmn… Smells _good_."

The Australian man put a spoonful of the yellowish substance into his mouth.

"Whoa, this _is_ good."

Allen kept silent.

"Yes, Allen-kun made it."

He flushed slightly at the compliment.

It had been exactly what he had hoped Lenalee _wouldn't_ say.

"It's really good," Komui agreed, eyes widening as the flavour exploded in his mouth.

"Th-Thanks."

"Where did you learn to cook like this, Allen?"

Said boy scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

"I don't know… I guess I picked it up somewhere during my training. But really," he put his hands up in front of his face, waving them crazily, "I wasn't the one who did the real cooking! Lenalee did the better part of it!"

The ebony-haired girl smacked him sharply in the back of the head.

"Don't deny it Allen-kun. You deserve the credit," she retorted in a matter-of-fact voice.

The 'unchangeable Lenalee' tone.

Allen sighed, rubbing his now bruised head.

"You didn't have to hit me…"

Komui shovelled another spoonful of homemade mashed potatoes into his mouth ferociously, looking rather unhappy at the affectionate gesture his sister had just carried out.

-

The next morning, Komui had been 'too sick' to get out of bed.

He had been half asleep, and Lenalee had insisted they leave him behind; she didn't want him wrecking the whole apartment in a rage thinking she was going to get _married_.

Allen sipped at his soup silently, polite.

He had had a lot of things on his mind since last night.

The dream of the strange figure in a tuxedo he'd never seen had come back again that night, as though insisting he saw old man Tikano.

He rubbed his temples wearily.

He still had to explain the violin's origins to Lenalee.

_Flashback-_

"_Allen-kun," Lenalee murmured._

_Said boy looked up from the pot he was mixing the mashed potato in._

"_Hm?"_

"_Do you mind me asking a question?"_

"_Not at all. Shoot."_

_He flashed a brilliant smile._

"_Uhm…"_

_The girl seemed embarrassed that he trusted her so easily._

"_Tomorrow, at breakfast, I need to talk to you about a couple of things. Before anyone comes… I need to clear the air before I suffocate…"_

_She threw him a sideways glance._

_Her amethyst eyes watched him, and he squirmed uncomfortably under the pressure of her stare._

"_Do you mind?"_

_Allen blinked, trying to hide his discomfort._

"_And you can't tell me now because…?"_

_He was slightly startled as she leaned closer to him, her breath tickling his ear._

"_Nii-san might hear us. And it's quite important, so…"_

_Again, the boy blinked._

"_O-Okay…"_

_Something important Lenalee wanted to talk to him about. _

_In _private_. _

_Something she didn't want her brother to hear._

Allen shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the troubling thoughts.

The moment had come, so no point in dwelling on it so much.

The out of the corner of his eye, he noted the two same young ladies from the other day smiling at him. He turned to them and returned the gesture, making them flush scarlet, turning away.

Lenalee returned from the washroom and the boy's grey eyes wandered away from her face.

"So..." she began, "Can we talk now?"

The white-haired boy shifted in his seat.

"Uhm, maybe we should order something first. Like a latte or something? This is going to be a long talk right?"

He glanced at his watch.

"That's why we even came here two hours early, isn't it?"

Lenalee flushed.

"O-Of course…"

Allen hid his nervousness.

"I'll go order. Needa return this soup too anyway."

He tucked his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans, picking up the now empty soup bowl gingerly.

"What would you like?"

"Uhm," she pulled out her wallet, fishing out a five dollar bill, "a mocha latte, if you don't mind."

She pushed the bill towards him, but he pushed it back.

"I'll pay for it."

And he left before she could protest.

-

Allen sighed as he made his way to the counter.

Things had gotten edgy and he hadn't been able to help changing the subject.

Sighing once more, he moved to the counter.

Mr Bentley welcomed him graciously.

"Well, if it isn't Allen!"

"Hey Mr Bentley."

He smiled.

"So, what can I do for the one who brought all them hordes of customers to my shop?"

The fifteen-year-old grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"I didn't bring all of them here! Your good coffee did!"

The stout man laughed heartily.

"Right… Anywho, what can I get for ya?"

"Two mocha lattes if you please," he answered, passing the older man a ten dollar bill.

Allen's mind wandered, and his eyes grew distant.

He feared what Lenalee would ask him.

Mr Bentley sensed his unease.

"Oh yeah, speakin' of which," he cut in, slicing the silence in half.

"Hm?" the boy acknowledged, sounding distant.

"Your, uh, job?"

The white-haired boy's head snapped up.

"OH YEAH. I still have one more day to pay off!"

Mr Bentley let out a hearty laugh, puzzling Allen.

"No, no, kid. I was gonna tell you, it's been completely paid back!"

The boy blinked.

"What did you say?"

"I said, it's all been PAID BACK. You're free kid."

But the white-haired boy didn't seem to buy it.

His storm grey eyes flashed, unconvinced.

"It's been… paid back?"

His voice shook.

"YES, it has."

Allen rested his chin on the high counter, the glass over the mahogany surface cool and calming.

"Ahh… I'm so happy…"

His face was glowing with euphoria.

Chuckling, Mr Bentley set the two mugs of steaming mocha latte on a tray.

"There ya go."

He noticed the light in Allen's eyes dim at the sight of the two lattes, and disappearing into the distant reverie once more.

"Somethin' wrong kid?"

The boy's eyes shifted back to look at the plump man.

"Not at all."

He turned and left.

But the humble shopkeeper sensed the lie in his voice; the tray shook slightly in his trembling hands.

* * *

A/N: Here it is as promised: a couple of days later. Sadly, THAT WAS SO BORING. Sorry for its retarded lack in action. (: Thanks again to all who reviewed~! Also, I realise I made a hugeeee mistake at the start of the previous chapter. It was something involving "Lenalee playing the cello". sorry about that. It's because I changed my mind after writing all the chapters there are in my computer at current, so. sorry.


	9. Black and White

The Devil's Symphony

Chapter 8: Black and White

Disclaimer: The D. Gray -Man manga is way too interesting to have come from me. (:

A/N: Enjoy!

* * *

"_Dearest Lenalee, _

_Sadly, I can't join you all for breakfast. The money has been compiled into this envelope along with the letter. (Reever is making me finish my paper work last night… Too… Tired… Sorry, Lenalee!)_

_Please make sure you get this message across to the others._

_The inscription insides your instruments are as follows:_

_Kanda: 'Obscur Aile Chevalier' which means 'Black Winged Knight'._

_Lavi: 'Minuit Soliel' which means 'Midnight Sun'._

_Lenalee: 'Crepuscule Colombe' which means 'Twilight Dove'._

_Allen: 'Lucinia Soir Ciel' which means 'Nightingale of the Evening Heaven'._  
'_Chevalier' which means 'Knight'._

_Have a good breakfast, Lenalee. And make sure you come home safe after._

_Countdown: Three Days to Entrance Exams! _

_Signed,_

_Your Loving Brother Komui"_

"Huh."

The ebony haired-girl had just uncovered the horrendous scribble of a message from her pocket.

Maybe this was what her brother had stayed up so late to research.

She slid the small bundle of bills into her wallet before pocketing it, deep in thought.

All these names.

Her brows furrowed.

Having studied all the names of any existing Stradivarius instruments, she knew that this could not be possible.

Then again, her brother, certified to determine the genuineness of Antonio Stradivari's world-renown instruments, had confirmed that their instruments were authentic.

So what on earth was going on?

The clatter of a plastic tray on the table snapped her back to reality and Lenalee started momentarily.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya. You looked kinda distant. Something wrong?"

Lenalee looked at the redhead.

Where had _he_ come from?

'_Now I'll never talk to Allen about that properly…"_

She shook her head.

His emerald eye glistened, and he grinned.

The amethyst eyed girl figured he was smiling behind his eye-patch too.

"You were daydreaming about Allen-chan, weren't you? Hm?"

The girl was taken aback.

Similarly, Allen, whom had arrived at the table and quietly put down the tray unnoticed, nearly dropped his mocha latte mid-air.

"Yo, Allen-chan! How are ya?"

"F-F-F-Fine."

Lavi blinked numerous times.

"Don't seem fine to me."

He turned to Lenalee, his voice drenched with a masked sense of seriousness.

"So, are you going to ask him?"

Allen's relief dissipated.

At first, when Lavi had showed up, he'd thought that now, Lenalee wouldn't be able to ask him those questions.

But instead, the redhead knew what was going on.

"W-What? You knew about this, Lavi?"

Now puzzled, Allen pondered upon the possibility that Lenalee hadn't told Lavi anything, and that the redhead had simply found out himself.

But maybe it was just an act?

Then again, there was nothing to be concerned about. And Lenalee wouldn't lie.

He didn't even know what she wanted to ask him.

So there was no need for alarm.

_Was there?_

The eighteen year-old folded his arms, feigning a stern demeanour.

"I'm a Bookman apprentice," he announced, "I should know about anything that may be going on."

He seated himself next to Allen.

"So go about your business, Princess."

He smiled and winked.

"Pretend I'm not here."

Lenalee looked at him lamely.

"You just made your presence very obvious. How are we supposed to pretend you're not there?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"And _don't _call me '_princess_'."

"Aw, come on, Lena-chan! Be creative."

Said teenager rolled her eyes.

"Fine then."

She looked out the shop window, at the sunrise far beyond the small buildings that were the post office and bank.

The large ball of fire was just rising over the top of the buildings, and it was still quite dark.

She shut her eyes.

'_Tolerance, Lenalee, tolerance. Be composed…'_

"I… um…"

'_Crap, what do I say?'_

Opening her eyes, she asked slowly, "I wanted to ask you about your scar and your arm…"

Allen looked surprised, and his eyes goggled slightly.

"I-If you don't mind."

She sounded awkward to herself already.

Who knew what Allen would think?

Said person turned away from her, and Lenalee bit her lip.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, no."

She looked up.

His grey eyes gazed at her truthfully, but he wasn't facing her. Looking at her from his peripherals, he looked like an angel.

He smiled.

The sunlight danced in his storm grey eyes and they sparked gold for a split second before he lowered his gaze to the mahogany table.

"I don't mind."

Lenalee watched as he suppressed the urge to gulp.

"Well, this arm…"

He unbuckled the cuff on the left sleeve of his shirt, rolling the sleeve up to his elbow.

He ran the fingers of his right arm over the charred skin.

"I was born with it."

He shrugged.

"As a small child, I was abandoned because of this deformity, and was left without a place to live. So, I wandered around for a while, coming across a circus sometime when I was five. They agreed to hire me; they needed an extra worker to help clean up quick after acts..."

Lenalee looked at him curiously, worriedly.

"They hired a _five year-old_ without a second thought…?"

A crooked smile played on Allen's lips.

"The world may seem cruel after you hear such a thing…"

His tone darkened.

"But there are even worse things than that."

And suddenly he was smiling again.

"And better things."

Lenalee was momentarily baffled by the swift expression change.

"Well, what happened after that…"

_Flashback-_

"_Is he dead?"_

_He dug his hands into his pockets, attempting to keep them warm in the cool night air._

_The clown looked at him._

"_He's dead."_

"…_He's covered in bruises."_

_The clown lifted the small ball off the ground, placing it gingerly on the top of the small mound._

"_Cosmo probably did it. 'Cause the audience likes you more than him."_

_The boy looked at the clown strangely as he sighed._

_Sighs seemed just wrong coming from people with painted-on smiles._

"_He hates it when people are better'n him," he went on, "He's got no talent except when it comes to stuff like this."_

_The younger of the two remained silent._

_Dusting off his hands, the clown added, "He was an old dog. He wouldn't have lived much longer anyway. It's alright."_

"…_hmm."_

_He thought for a moment._

"_You're not gonna get revenge?"_

_The clown smiled._

"_If I do that, I'll get thrown out of here and won't get paid."_

_He clapped his hands together, and chanted, "Namu Amida BooBoo."_

_The boy looked at him lamely, disgusted._

'Ugh.'

"_I'm a newcomer after all."_

_The boy's silver eyes glanced at him briefly from the side before returning his gaze to the small mound before them._

"_After Christmas tomorrow, I'll move on to somewhere new…"_

"_I see."_

_The boy leaned his head on his palm, looking away from the clown._

"_Hm?"_

_He cocked his head to the side._

"_Who are you anyway?"_

_Still facing away from the clown, the boy replied monotonously, "I do odd jobs around here. I've brought you your dinner before."_

_The clown's mouth formed a big 'O'._

"_I have a bad memory for faces."_

_Suddenly, he let out a startled gasp._

_The boy paid it no mind._

"_Oh my!"_

_He stuck out his tongue and licked the tip of his finger._

"_You're covered in bruises too, aren't you?"_

_He touched the wet finger to the boy's swollen cheek._

_The boy started._

"_WAH, GROSS! GET YOUR SPIT OFF ME DUMMY!"_

_He glared ferociously at the clown._

"_It's disinfectant," the clown insisted._

_He withdrew his finger._

"_Did Cosmo beat you up?"_

_The boy wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt._

"_Shut up."_

_He refused to look at the irritating clown._

"_Don't you have friends?"_

_A vein threatened to pop on Allen's forehead._

"_SHUT UP!"_

_He folded his arms and drew his knees up to his chest, looking away._

"_When I grow up…I'm getting out of here as soon as I'm strong enough, so I don't need any friends…"_

_Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the clown make a stupid face._

_Staring straight ahead, the distorted face having no effect on him, he asked, "_What _are you doing?"_

_The clown withdrew himself back into his original sitting position._

"_You didn't think it was funny?"_

_He sounded disappointed._

'Che._'_

"_Sorry, but I don't like clowns and stuff."_

_He thought for a moment._

_Why was he even talking to the idiot?_

"_In fact, I hate 'em," he added brashly._

"_My, my."_

_The clown raised his nose, acting indignant._

"_Well, I hate crowds and children who don't laugh."_

"_Hmph."_

_A silence settled between them._

"_Aren't you gonna cry?"_

_The boy's voice shook._

"_He lived with you for a long time, didn't he?"_

_He stared at the small mound of earth before him._

"_Aren't you sad?" he asked again._

"_So sad I could die."_

_The clown was 'hanging' from a noose that was tied to the tree._

"_QUIT IT!!" the boy yelled._

'Is this guy dangerous?'

"_But I can't cry."_

_He looked at the clown incredulously._

_He returned the disbelieving look._

"_Maybe my tears are dried up."_

_He unfastened the noose._

"_They just won't come."_

_The boy's breath escaped his lips, forming a cloud of steam around his mouth._

"_What's up with that…?" he muttered._

_He continued to stare at the hillock of earth under which rested the dog's dead body._

_His voice shook again, rust-coloured locks hiding his eyes._

"_What… was his name?"_

_The clown did not answer, but the boy didn't notice._

"_He licked my hand yesterday."_

_He raised his deformed left hand up, observing its disgusting features, horrible texture, noting the frightening colour of blood._

"_His tongue was warm…"_

_He had tried to stop them, reinforce the dam, but to no avail._

_They spilled over his cheeks, and he sniffed, his nose beginning to run as well._

"_So how come…"_

_And everything just poured out._

"_I'm crying…over him?"_

_He bit his lip, trying to suppress the wails that threatened to escape him._

_But the urge to cry was too strong for him._

_He howled and wept into the cold winter air, and the clown stood by, watching him._

"_I see…"_

_And he seemed to understand everything._

_End Flashback-_

"Well, this clown of a person became my foster father."

He smiled, eyes distant.

"He taught me everything, gave me everything. He taught me manners, words, anything you needed to know in order to survive in the world. He gave me a name, a birthday, anything a child needed to feel loved. All the while, he carried a special case. I never knew what it was until…"

The white-haired boy tensed slightly.

His gaze fell to the table, observing the wood lines.

"He…" he began, still slightly shaken by the thought he had hoped to forget, denied.

Lenalee could easily anticipate what he would say next.

Gulping, he continued.

"He died. And my eye… it…"

_Flashback-_

"_Mana Walker."_

_There was no other inscription._

_They hadn't carved anything else onto the slab of black stone._

_Hadn't acknowledged his role as the most wonderful foster father anyone could have._

_The boy took it back._

_No, they hadn't acknowledged his role as the most wonderful _father_ anyone could have._

_The bronze-haired boy slumped, dazed and disoriented._

_His lips moved and the breath escaped into the cold winter air in wisps of clouded steam._

" _Mana…"_

_A single name._

_The whisper rang around him like an echo, the stillness in the graveyard shaken just by those few words._

"_It's all my… fault… Bring him back…"_

_His voice grew in volume._

"_Bring. Him. _Back._"_

_And the silence was utterly shattered to pieces._

"_BRING HIM BACK!"_

_The air grew cold as the last drops of silence evaporated._

"_Good evening~"_

_A plump figure curled around the black stone cross._

"_You want me to revive Mana Walker~?"_

_He was strange, this man._

_A smirking moon sat atop his high hat._

_He had two large ears, similar to that of a rabbit._

_A pair of round rimless glasses sat on his nose, and his grin was insanely wide._

_His clothes were peculiar too._

_A white coat with long sleeves._

_A pair of gloves adorned his hands._

_He didn't look human at all._

_The boy looked up at the figure, confused._

_Tears ran down his cheeks._

_-_

"I can't say what happened next was very clear… But…"

-

_They weren't related by blood, but he had been thrown away at birth because of his defective arm._

_And Mana had been the only one who would adopt him._

_The fatso summoned a large skeleton. It seemed to be made of metal._

"_Now, I'll need your co-operation to call Mana Walker back. You need to call out to him as loudly as you can, so we can bring his soul back here~."_

_He gestured towards the metal skeleton._

"_This is a special machine I've created that will house your father's soul~!"_

_The boy stared at the 'machine'._

_Warmth returned to his fingers._

_His deformed arm pulsed._

_Mana was coming back! They would be together again!_

_He would get to see Mana's smile, and they could write letters in the snow._

_Just like how they used to._

"_Mana," he yelled, although still quite much muted by his excitement._

_The corpulent man's eyes glinted evilly._

"_Dear boy, you need to call out to him louder. Don't you love him~?"_

"_Mana!"_

"_Better, boy. But louder still!"_

_The boy paused, catching his breath._

_He would do it. For Mana's happiness and his own._

_He gathered the breath in his lungs and inhaled deeply._

"_MANA!"_

_The corpulent man grinned wickedly._

"_Yes… That's the way…"_

_A bright purple light sprouted before them, engulfing the two in a bright glare._

_It sprang forth, seeming to force itself into the metal skeleton._

_The metal skeleton twitched, and then, spoke, albeit softly._

"_A…llen…"_

_Instantly, the ten-year-old's face brightened._

_He had heard Mana's voice!_

"_Mana!"_

_The metal skeleton began to tremble ._

_  
"A…llen… Why… What have you done… to me…"_

_Confusion streaked across the boy's face in a split-second._

"_Wh-What?"_

_The fat man had started sniggering quietly. He smirked._

"_How dare you… HOW DARE YOU TURN ME INTO AN AKUMA!"_

_This time, horror was evident in the russet-haired boy's expression._

_His silver eyes were wide with surprise, and his mouth curled into a frown._

_Had he upset Mana?_

"_B-But Mana, I brought you back so we could be happy! We can be together again!"_

"_How dare you! HOW DARE YOU!"_

_The metal skeleton shook violently, and its arms began to move, the joints creaking noisily in the night._

"_A…llen…You…made me into… an Akuma…! You made me into an Akuma!!! Allen!!!"_

_The boy fell, his knees weak._

_What was going on?_

"_No, Mana… W-What have I done?"_

_It broke free from the rack it had been on, approaching the boy on sharp tip edged legs._

_He scrambled, rushing backwards on his bottom with what little strength he had left._

"_I'LL CURSE YOU-"_

_The machine slashed the boy, one sharp-tip edged arm coming in contact with pale, porcelain skin._

_The slash drew blood, which flooded out profusely._

"_I'LL CURSE YOU, ALLEN!!!"_

_The boy felt pain, like nothing he had ever experienced._

_But it did not come from the wound on his eye._

_His insides had caught fire, and they burned._

_And his heart was being ripped apart._

_The corpulent man laughed vivaciously, sadistically._

"_Now, akuma! I command you to kill this boy, and wear his skin!"_

_The boy's face whitened further, a feat nearly impossible already._

"_M-Mana!"_

_The metal creature that was definitely not his father lunged towards him, but he did not fight back._

_A numbing pain caught him in the chest as he sat sprawled in an awkward position. Time began to slow down._

_He did not understand how or what exactly happened next, how his deformed arm transformed into a large metallic _creature_._

_All he knew, was that there was a burning sensation in his left arm._

_Sound failed to register in his brain, and words tumbled out of his mouth noiselessly._

_The metal skeleton was immediately pushed back by the clawed creature. It fell back, crashing onto the ground and rushing backwards._

_The metallic creature pulled towards it, towing Allen along with it._

"_N-No! Mana, run!"_

_But the metal skeleton did not retreat. It dodged the metal claw agilely, clawing out to reach the boy instead._

_It missed by a long shot, before the metallic arm caught up with it._

"_What the hell..?! My hand's just automatically…?!"_

_He looked up._

_A few feet away, the metal skeleton lay half-destroyed. _

_It seemed to notice his gaze, and turned to look his way._

_The boy was astounded. Tears poured from his stormy grey eyes._

"_Mana…?!"_

_He shrieked, begged the monstrosity of his arm._

"_NO, DON'T DO THIS TO MANA…!!!"_

_The claw pushed forward ever faster._

"_RUN! RUN,DAD…!!!"_

_Then a coarse voice spoke, barely audible. A broken voice, so strained with guilt, regret._

_Tainted with failure as a father._

"_Allen…I…"_

_The metal claw had its prey within reach…_

_Now, to make the final strike…_

"…_Love…You…"_

_The boy's eyes widened at his father's next words._

"_Please destroy me…"_

_Something ripped, snapped in the boy's head. And his eye reacted to something he couldn't understand._

_It flew open wider, and the pupil transitioned into something monstrous; a blood red pupil, where the whites of the eye had gone black._

_And everything was a dull black and white._

"_!!!"_

_The claw brought itself down upon the metal skeleton, and the boy ricocheted upwards. _

_He landed on the muddy gravel, his face landing squarely on the ground, scrapes forming on his cheeks._

_Then the boy was engulfed in darkness._

_End Flashback-_

Allen's eyes were closed, his mouth pulled into a forced smile.

His hand was over his face, blocking his expression, wisps of silver hair hanging over it.

"I don't know what happened, but this is what master said to me when he found me:

"_There is no freedom for the soul within an Akuma. You're trapped within it for all eternity, and you become the Earl's toy._ _There's no way to help it other than by destroying it._

"Then, he asked me if I wanted to become an exorcist."

Allen straightened up, pulling his hand away from his face.

He took a sip of his mocha latte, regaining his composure as he spoke once more, the tremble lost from his voice.

Lenalee's brows furrowed.

Something was wrong here…

The story didn't match.

"Master never told me what he was training me for after that. And for as long as I can remember, I've had the white violin."

Allen rested his elbow on the table, hiding his eyes in his palm.

He smiled forcedly again.

"I'm sorry. I've been jabbering on and on about my insignificant past…"

"Hmn…"

Allen noticed Lenalee's internal consideration.

"Is something wrong?"

Lenalee looked up, staring at Allen's hair; his face was hidden from view.

"I have a rather different version of this story…"

Allen looked up, raised an eyebrow.

Inquisition was written all over his face, especially in his curious grey eyes.

But she could see it.

The past he hid from them.

The past _she _knew.

"Well-"

There was a loud grunt.

"What's with all your skank-ass serious faces? It's still only eight AM."

Kanda scoffed, settling down in the chair next to Lenalee.

Said girl sighed.

Her questions would have to wait.

"Where's that idiot brother of yours?"

She glanced over at Kanda.

"He's at home, sleeping. I didn't want him wrecking the house just to wake up…"

She whipped out her wallet.

"He did leave us some money to buy breakfast, though."

She pushed the money across the table.

Allen instantly volunteered to buy the food.

"What would you guys like?" he asked, avoiding Lenalee's gaze.

"Ham Sandwich Meal, please."

"Bacon and Eggs Meal for me, thanks."

"Just a double-dose latte."

The boy nodded leaving the table.

Silence ensued.

Only to be broken by the redhead who'd deemed himself invisible earlier.

"Quite the gentleman, isn't he?"

Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Che. He's avoiding something."

He cast suspicious glances at Lenalee and Lavi.

"What happened?"

Lenalee shrugged. Lavi grinned.

"Che."

* * *

A/N: That's all for this chapter. :D This early update is for WolfInferno who's going on holiday soon and needed the update faster, and whom has been so nice, encouraging and inspiring~! Thank you all who reviewed, but sad to say, I won't be updating anymore for a while. D: Sorry. I need to rediscover the inspiration and motivation to continue this fic, so. Sorry.  
I hope you've enjoyed 'The Devil's Symphony' thus far!


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